Are You a Lady? ?

Ladyleftfieldlover

When I was a management trainee at John Lewis many years ago, I was told off for referring to a customer as a woman. I was supposed to call her a lady! I’ve always thought a lady was someone who behaved well and maybe had one or two airs and graces!

That reminds me of when I asked a JL assistant, in their once extensive Oxford Street fabric department, to direct me to some cheap fabric for a budget project I was planning. He replied: We don’t say cheap, madam. We prefer inexpensive.

Thank you Suzi, I was beginning to think that it was just me!

Spinnaker I knew that it was going to be that!

A good ‘lady’ song is by, I think, could be wrong, Peter Starstedt (sp?)
It’s called You’re a Lady. I think it came out in the early 80s.
It’s got a lot of piano and brass band in it.
It used to make me cry when I was a hormonal teenager

Lady is fine with me. “Guys” is another matter - really annoys me!!

When I was a management trainee at John Lewis many years ago, I was told off for referring to a customer as a woman. I was supposed to call her a lady! I’ve always thought a lady was someone who behaved well and maybe had one or two airs and graces!

I can't help but think of this song when hearing the word Lady. Hope the link works

youtu.be/BBjI1aC4yCM

yes I know,,,, repeated myself

when my granddaughter was born by emergency caesarean, the midwife carried the baby out to her out to her dad and family saying you have a beautiful young lady, I did not like that.

I think most of us think of our fathers as gentlemen. Different era?

Sorry OakDryad, I always misspell your name for some reason

Following OakDryd’s thought provoking erm, thoughts; I’ve been playing ‘Woman or Lady’, in which you categorise females into each term.

Oddly, I think of my mother as a lady, and my maternal grandmother as a woman.

My father is most definitely a gentleman.
In fact, if you were to look up the word ‘gentleman’ in the dictionary, you would see a photo of my dear dad.

timetogo2016

My Dh calls me his lovely lady and i recieved a letter from the NHS referring to me as a lady.
Looks weird on paper,i prefer a woman all day long.

Consultant’s letters are weird.

There was a thread on MN some years ago discussing whether they way the patient was described was some sort of code used by HCP’s.

A letter that I recently received from a surgeon, referred to me as ‘this pleasant 54 year old lady’.

I was fine with lady; I would have hoped for something more effusive than pleasant; and he got my age wrong!

I think that DH got a consultant’s letter describing him as a ‘charming gentleman’.

Years ago I came across this definiton: "A lady is someone who does what she is told to do...." So I am definitely NOT a lady!

I have no preference, have used "Ladies" to describe 'women' I don't know that well.

Otherwise they're known as 'the girls'.

"Ladies and Gentlemen" generally the way a group of men and women are addressed.

I've heard 'Gals" in casual use plenty of times, no matter the ages.

I was just thinking recently of how people always refer to "my boyfriend' or "my girl friend".
Sounds a bit juvenile when the subjects are seniors I think.

Women are really good at calling a friend, male or female, a 'girl friend' or 'boy friend'.
Yet a man wouldn't call a male friend 'my boy friend'.

I prefer woman. And like some others, I hate hearing grown women called girls. It feels demeaning to me, with implications of dependency, even helplessness.

The NHS referred to you as a lady, not a person? I hope you complained!

My Dh calls me his lovely lady and i recieved a letter from the NHS referring to me as a lady.
Looks weird on paper,i prefer a woman all day long.

TerriBull

I prefer woman, but use lady in deference sometimes, in situations such as when out with young children for example I might say "mind that lady" rather than mind that woman.

I shouldn't, but I sometimes find it patronising when I've heard rather silly old men say things like "lets not be rude in front of the ladies" my inner response, "no lets not! God forbid that we might be sullied by hearing rude language, like we've been living in a vacuum so we've never heard anything like it before" or those God awful dos, arranged by male organisations referred to as "ladies nights" for the purpose of dragging the little woman out from behind the kitchen stove for a rare treat.

I really don't mind being collectively referred to as "guys" all the younger generation in our family address us in that manner and then when we go into restaurants and hear the same it reminds me of our family, so no problem with it.

I do not wish to be called a girl anymore or collectively referred to as "the girls", Woman or women thanks you! equally ludicrous when men of a certain age refer to themselves as "the boys" light hearted it may well be but it just sound ridiculous.

Brilliant dragging the little woman out from behind the kitchen stove.

Whoaaaaa i am 100% behind you on that perception.

Well, for a Yorkshire lass to be called lady it is absolutely way off the radar, well it is to me anyway, there may be others on here from Yorkshire who disagree, fair do's.

I can't say I would be content with being called a lady nor madam. To me its too eloquent, its not down to earth enough for me.

Come on don’t you feel young when addressed as ‘you guys’? Always preferable to ‘my lovely’!

Surely "Ladies and Gentlemen", as a form of address, can simply be replaced by "Everybody"?

I loathe guys; a friend of mine was recently addressed as "guys", yes - in the plural, when he was alone in a restaurant. As a retired teacher, he would have been perfectly happy with "sir".

I am a woman rather than a man, a lady rather than a gentleman and, although I think of girls and boys as children, I am a girl rather than a boy. To me, "Guys" and "Folk" are male or female. Quite frankly, I don't care which I am called and I think we spend far too much time taking offence at words. I take my offence at the way something is said rather than the actual word used. Life is just too short to get concerned about language to the extent we do today.

I come from a long line of ag labs, peasants, assorted charwomen and washerwomen so I'm happy with woman.

If I must be downgraded from the aristocracy to being a mere Lady, so be it …

I prefer woman, but use lady in deference sometimes, in situations such as when out with young children for example I might say "mind that lady" rather than mind that woman.

I shouldn't, but I sometimes find it patronising when I've heard rather silly old men say things like "lets not be rude in front of the ladies" my inner response, "no lets not! God forbid that we might be sullied by hearing rude language, like we've been living in a vacuum so we've never heard anything like it before" or those God awful dos, arranged by male organisations referred to as "ladies nights" for the purpose of dragging the little woman out from behind the kitchen stove for a rare treat.

I really don't mind being collectively referred to as "guys" all the younger generation in our family address us in that manner and then when we go into restaurants and hear the same it reminds me of our family, so no problem with it.

I do not wish to be called a girl anymore or collectively referred to as "the girls", Woman or women thanks you! equally ludicrous when men of a certain age refer to themselves as "the boys" light hearted it may well be but it just sound ridiculous.