Are You a Lady? ?

NotSpaghetti

OakDryad - I'm another person who would reach for woman/women - except for the first one which i suppose I didn't really "get". I think I'd need clarification on that one. It seems an unusual phrase to me.

I agree it's odd though many would, I imagine opt for She was a perfect lady about it. rather than She was a perfect woman about it. suggesting (to me anyway) gentile, reasonal behaviour not expected of a woman.

I think there's an age distinction too. Ask a vox pop of young people about using lady and indeed gentleman and you would get some non-plussed responses. What is moot for older people simply isn't up for debate among Millennials and GenZ.

In later times, lady has filtered down to the working classes so you get these collocations:

Adj: elderly, middle-aged, old, young A little old lady opened the door. | attractive, beautiful, lovely, pretty | charming, fine, lovely, nice | cleaning, dinner, tea ... The school employs four dinner ladies.

www.freecollocation.com/search?word=lady

There is overlap with woman with some interesting distinctions:

Adj. young | middle-aged | elderly, old, older. Older women often have difficulty conceiving. | adult, grown The little girl she remembered was now a grown woman. | married | single, unattached, unmarried | widowed | divorced | pregnant | childless | business (also businesswoman), career, professional, working | non-working | attractive, beautiful, good-looking, handsome, pretty | desirable | well-dressed | plain, ugly | motherly | hysterical | decent, good | evil, wicked | battered a hostel for battered women | the other woman

... evil woman, wicked woman, plain woman, ugly woman, hysterical woman, battered woman, the other woman ...

Why these distinctions?

Addressing a room as 'Men and Women' would sound a bit odd, though.

That’s exactly what happened at my dd’s graduation four years ago! The audience was addressed as ‘Welcome, men and women.’

It sounded most peculiar and I was also very peeved that the female sex had been relegated to second in line. Couldn’t we at least have been women and men?

Although Dh and I prefer to be addressed by our titles, Lord & Lady Loo-Bucket.

Cabbie21, I think 'client' would be the appropriate word in your scenario.

Thank you lemsip, that’s very kind of you

Callistemon21

I don't like to use my title on GN.

Quite so, Lady Bottle-Brush.
Gracious as ever ?

?

I don't like to use my title on GN.

It's Lady for me!
If I was enquiring about something in a store and the assistant called for someone 'to help that woman' instead of 'help that lady' I would not like it!

Thanks FannyCornforth you always come up with an interesting thread.

I’m happy to be a lady

I culdn't care less what people call me as long as they speak politely and courteously and not with a tone of patronage or insult in their voice.

It is not what you say but the way that you say it.

OakDryad - I'm another person who would reach for woman/women - except for the first one which i suppose I didn't really "get". I think I'd need clarification on that one. It seems an unusual phrase to me.

Absolutely don't mind what I'm called, as long as it's said in a friendly manner!

For those who cringe at ‘girls’ perhaps that’s how I feel at my ripe old age!

Always reminds me of Little Britain ‘I’m a lady..’

Blossoming

I’m a woman, but I’m not offended by being referred to as a lady, or a guy for that matter.

I think that I dislike the word ‘guys’ so much as it’s heard so much in schools (by teachers to kids)
It’s especially loathsome when used with primary children.
It used to drive me potty, actually!

Doodledog

Why do adult women want to be called girls? I just don't understand it. It's not one of those things I can understand but don't agree with, it just makes no sense to me.

I can’t help but think that it’s an avoidance of the word women.

‘Prosecco with the girls’

I’m a woman, but I’m not offended by being referred to as a lady, or a guy for that matter.

My preference is woman. Simple. None of that ugly “cis” malarkey in front of it either.

This is an interesting exercise:

For each of the example sentences below, you have to decide whether to fill the blank with ‘woman/women’ or ‘lady/ladies’.

1. She was a perfect ——— about it.

2. The church flowers were arranged by the ——— of the congregation.

3. Esther thought of her grandmother as a strong and capable ———.

4. Some ——— reported that they experienced multiple orgasms.

5. In Victorian times, it was common for ———to die in childbirth.

6. A ———was raped in the city centre last night.

If you found yourself making an an intuitive preference can you explain why?

Why do adult women want to be called girls? I just don't understand it. It's not one of those things I can understand but don't agree with, it just makes no sense to me.

Elizabeth27

Woman is my preference but would prefer lady to girl, it makes me cringe when older women call themselves girls.

I'm with you on this too!
Girls is a definite no!

I don't mind what people call me as long as it's said in a friendly and pleasant way.

I wouldn’t like to hear my hairdresser say to her Junior
“ would you shampoo my woman, please”. Lady is fine.
Sadly I am no longer a girl,

Elizabeth27

Woman is my preference but would prefer lady to girl, it makes me cringe when older women call themselves girls.

Exactly this.

'Lady' sounds ok(ish) to me when it comes from a small child, but that may well be a throwback to my own childhood. Otherwise, I prefer 'woman', and never 'girl' for anyone over 21 or so.

I don't mind 'Ladies and Gentlemen', although I'm now struggling to think of when I'm likely to hear that nowadays, as I don't hear many public speeches . Addressing a room as 'Men and Women' would sound a bit odd, though.

I'm a woman. Lady has connotations of certain behaviours and that in all of my long life, I've only met one or two real gentlemen, based on their behaviour, don't see why I should be held to a higher code.