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What IS a lady?

silversilver In the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded.USA, Left coast. Veteran

Just wonderin' aloud here: Ladies can talk about pissing contests, clits and other anatomy? What the heck is a lady anyhoo?! O.o

Comments

  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Hmmm.....good question?

    This perhaps?

    silverZenshinkarasti
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Lady

    Origin

    Old English hlǣfdīge (denoting a woman to whom homage or obedience is due, such as the wife of a lord, also specifically the Virgin Mary), from hlāf ‘loaf’ + a Germanic base meaning ‘knead’, related to dough.

    Lord

    Origin

    Old English hlāford, from hlāfweard ‘bread-keeper’, from a Germanic base

    I take this to mean that the Lady does all the work, while the Lord gets all the glory.

    silver
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
  • silversilver In the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded. USA, Left coast. Veteran

    ...and insightful too.

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Yes. Behind every great man, stands a woman, arms crossed, shaking her head and tapping her foot....

    Here in the UK, The Queen's husband is known as 'The Prince Consort' and he does not bear the title 'King'. She reigns supreme.

    In the USA, The President's wife is not known as Madam President, but as The First Lady. History tells us that for the most part, they had impressive personalities of their own, and were very much on equal footing with their husbands. One could say, 'the Power behind the Throne.'

    I bet Barbara Bush had plenty to say when her husband was President. I wasn't aware so much of Bush Jr's wife.... Nancy Regan was formidable, Jackie Kennedy an Icon and Hillary Clinton will certainly go down in History as a prominent player in her own right (whatever one may think of her)...

    silverKundo
  • silversilver In the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded. USA, Left coast. Veteran

    While growing up, reading the things I read and listening to family conversations, I always got that image in my mind of the strong woman of the family standing by \ rolling pin in hand. (If they'd actually used it a time or two, would've saved them from the follies of the man of the household.) :awesome:

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    The epitome of a Lady to me, is of someone with an iron will encased in a classy structure.
    My personal icon is Audrey Hepburn, who idealised an image of elegant poise, but steely determination. Her life story is incredible.

    She was not without her flaws; no human is. But they're part of what made her stupendous, admirable and timeless.

    Bunks
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited January 2017

    Every woman gossips; no Lady does.

    silver
  • silversilver In the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded. USA, Left coast. Veteran

    I'm not so sure I'd measure up to being a lady...more like Audrey in My Fair Lady at the racetrack...sooner or later... :3

    lobster
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    This Lady was also admirable, and I'm an adoring fan....

    She was famous for her one-person 'sketches' which were basically observations of different people and how funny they were... She always wore the same style shot-satin dresses, in various colours, which neutralised her, and helped you focus on what she was saying and doing....
    She was very observant and picked up on peoples' funny foibles brilliantly... Some of her sketches were observant in a serious way, too though.

    This is hilarious. Volume up... stay with it.... She has others which can be seen in the right column...

  • silversilver In the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded. USA, Left coast. Veteran

    What does anybody think - really - about ladies?
    Do they never swear?
    Or is that situationally forgiven sometimes?
    Or the old 'inappropriate talk'? (yeah, what's inappropriate these days?)

    I think my mom was a lady, but when dad made her upset, she'd get pretty hot under the collar but NEVER used foul language that I know of. That would've been against her way. I do remember one time (my dad was cool when he was manipulating things and people), she told him (paraphrasing), 'You wouldn't say shyte if you had a mouthful!'
    :grin:

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    @silver said: I think my mom was a lady, but when dad made her upset, she'd get pretty hot under the collar but NEVER used foul language that I know of. That would've been against her way. I do remember one time (my dad was cool when he was manipulating things and people), she told him (paraphrasing), 'You wouldn't say shyte if you had a mouthful!'

    Your mother would have loved this then....

    The UK is an incredible source of humorous ladies: Joyce Grenfell, Pam Ayers, Victoria Wood are the three main stalwarts of Comedy a la Lady....,

  • Haha, get a room full of women together and you will see what women talk about: sex, bowel movements - absolutely everything. We are human beings, we talk about whatever we please.

    In the same way a woman is a lady, a man is a masculine man who sheds no tears, feels no love, and no pain.

    Has anyone seen Peaky Blinders? I think the female matriarch is my latest 'lady crush' (okay yes, she's a 'criminal' and not exactly buddhist inspiration). I'd say a woman is strong willed, and confident and doesn't let anyone speak down to her or tell her how to be, or 'pull' rank over her, but also someone who has a lot of compassion.

    lobster
  • The meaning is changing, just like many words. For example the first women suffragettes in the UK were mostly genteel 'Ladies'. However ...

    ... context, time, culture is important.

    In Saudia Arabia women are not allowed to drive. Que?

    I am certainly no lady and never will be ...

    Now where is my pussyhat?
    https://www.pussyhatproject.com

    Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha

  • VastmindVastmind Memphis, TN Veteran
    edited January 2017

    'My Momma said a lady ain't what she wears but what she knows' -- India Arie

    I think a Lady knows there's a time and place for everything. :) ....and can adjust accordingly.

    lobster
  • silversilver In the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded. USA, Left coast. Veteran
    edited January 2017

    ...so, being a lady has nothing to do with whether she uses fowl language and such?

    Jeroen
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    Of course, anyone using pheasant language is right out!

    silverKundo
  • I call fouul.

    silverJeroen
  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator

    To me the term "lady" always came across as stuffy and giving in to societal expectations to behave a certain way appropriate of a "good woman" but not men. That comes from growing up and always being told by grandparents that "little ladies should always cross their legs. Little ladies carry their books against their chest, not at their side likes boys. Little ladies don't put their hands in their sleeves even if they are cold." etc etc. And yes, that meant ladies don't swear, always have proper manners, etc. To me, it was a bunch of BS. If that's what a lady is, I want nothing of it, lol.

    silverVastmindlobster
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran

    I thought the OP is a good question that I didn't really know the answer to, so I took to doing some research. I managed to find a helpful guide to help those of the fairer sex out.

    Some examples:
    Desireableness of a pure breath.--the purity of the breath is of the greatest consequence; what, indeed, could be so afflicting to one of the gentle sex as impurity in this respect? yet it may occur without any neglect on her part, and it is not always that a remedy can be offered; in other words, there are cases where it is incurable.

    Refreshing draught for the breath.--Take five to ten drops of hydrochloric acid in half a tumbler of spring water, a little lemon juice, and loaf sugar, rubbed on lemon peel to flavor it to suit the palate. Let this mixture be taken three times a day for a month or six weeks, and, if useful, then continue it occasionally. It is a pleasant refrigerant [i.e., tonic for reducing fever] and tonic draught.

    Ladies should never dine with their gloves on; unless their hands are not fit to be seen.

    In conversation at the table, be careful not to speak while eating a mouthful; it is indecorous in the extreme.

    Bite not your bread, but break it with your fingers; be careful not to crumb it upon the table-cloth.

    http://www1.assumption.edu/WHW/old/Thornwell_Lady's_Guide.html

    Something for all the gentlemen as well:

    1. Never allow a iady to get a chair for herself, ring a bell, pick up a handkerchief or glove she may have dropped, or, in short, perform any service for herself which you can perform for her, when you are in the room. By extending such courtesies to your mother, sisters, or other members of your family, they become habitual, and are thus more gracefully performed when abroad. 3. Never perform any little service for another with a formal bow or manner as if conferring a favor, but with a quiet gentlemanly ease as if it were, not a ceremonious, unaccustomed performance, but a matter of course, for you to be courteous.

    http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/AJF2379.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext

  • silversilver In the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded. USA, Left coast. Veteran

    @person said:
    I thought the OP is a good question that I didn't really know the answer to, so I took to doing some research. I managed to find a helpful guide to help those of the fairer sex out.

    Some examples:
    Desireableness of a pure breath.--the purity of the breath is of the greatest consequence; what, indeed, could be so afflicting to one of the gentle sex as impurity in this respect? yet it may occur without any neglect on her part, and it is not always that a remedy can be offered; in other words, there are cases where it is incurable.

    Refreshing draught for the breath.--Take five to ten drops of hydrochloric acid in half a tumbler of spring water, a little lemon juice, and loaf sugar, rubbed on lemon peel to flavor it to suit the palate. Let this mixture be taken three times a day for a month or six weeks, and, if useful, then continue it occasionally. It is a pleasant refrigerant [i.e., tonic for reducing fever] and tonic draught.

    Ladies should never dine with their gloves on; unless their hands are not fit to be seen.

    In conversation at the table, be careful not to speak while eating a mouthful; it is indecorous in the extreme.

    Bite not your bread, but break it with your fingers; be careful not to crumb it upon the table-cloth.

    http://www1.assumption.edu/WHW/old/Thornwell_Lady's_Guide.html

    Something for all the gentlemen as well:

    1. Never allow a iady to get a chair for herself, ring a bell, pick up a handkerchief or glove she may have dropped, or, in short, perform any service for herself which you can perform for her, when you are in the room. By extending such courtesies to your mother, sisters, or other members of your family, they become habitual, and are thus more gracefully performed when abroad. 3. Never perform any little service for another with a formal bow or manner as if conferring a favor, but with a quiet gentlemanly ease as if it were, not a ceremonious, unaccustomed performance, but a matter of course, for you to be courteous.

    http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/AJF2379.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext

    I must be really old-fashioned - or I have a past lifetime in those eras, cuz I like them! I like the sounds of them, even if odd for the early 2000's.

    I use Listerine Pocket Packs, fwiw. :blush:

  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran

    @silver said:

    @person said:
    I thought the OP is a good question that I didn't really know the answer to, so I took to doing some research. I managed to find a helpful guide to help those of the fairer sex out.

    Some examples:
    Desireableness of a pure breath.--the purity of the breath is of the greatest consequence; what, indeed, could be so afflicting to one of the gentle sex as impurity in this respect? yet it may occur without any neglect on her part, and it is not always that a remedy can be offered; in other words, there are cases where it is incurable.

    Refreshing draught for the breath.--Take five to ten drops of hydrochloric acid in half a tumbler of spring water, a little lemon juice, and loaf sugar, rubbed on lemon peel to flavor it to suit the palate. Let this mixture be taken three times a day for a month or six weeks, and, if useful, then continue it occasionally. It is a pleasant refrigerant [i.e., tonic for reducing fever] and tonic draught.

    Ladies should never dine with their gloves on; unless their hands are not fit to be seen.

    In conversation at the table, be careful not to speak while eating a mouthful; it is indecorous in the extreme.

    Bite not your bread, but break it with your fingers; be careful not to crumb it upon the table-cloth.

    http://www1.assumption.edu/WHW/old/Thornwell_Lady's_Guide.html

    Something for all the gentlemen as well:

    1. Never allow a iady to get a chair for herself, ring a bell, pick up a handkerchief or glove she may have dropped, or, in short, perform any service for herself which you can perform for her, when you are in the room. By extending such courtesies to your mother, sisters, or other members of your family, they become habitual, and are thus more gracefully performed when abroad. 3. Never perform any little service for another with a formal bow or manner as if conferring a favor, but with a quiet gentlemanly ease as if it were, not a ceremonious, unaccustomed performance, but a matter of course, for you to be courteous.

    http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/AJF2379.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext

    I must be really old-fashioned - or I have a past lifetime in those eras, cuz I like them! I like the sounds of them, even if odd for the early 2000's.

    I use Listerine Pocket Packs, fwiw. :blush:

    Yeah, browsing through them I too found a lot in there that was good and helpful.

  • Just a reminder that we have a long history of cultural information, memes and other helpful public resources in the UK to shape our ladies and gentlemen ...

    Zenshinsilverpersonkarasti
  • silversilver In the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded. USA, Left coast. Veteran

    Oh, I remember THAT one, lobbie! Love it. B)

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    The points of etiquette above (with the exception of the glove-wearing; I'll come back to that in a minute)....

    In conversation at the table, be careful not to speak while eating a mouthful; it is indecorous in the extreme.

    Bite not your bread, but break it with your fingers; be careful not to crumb it upon the table-cloth.

    ...are just as applicable to aspiring gentlemen, as to aspiring young ladies.

    Time was when young ladies of a certain Social Class attended 'Finishing School' where they learnt Elocution, standard table manners, how to be the perfect Hostess and social graces, what was 'Form' and what was 'unacceptable'.
    They then 'Came out' at a society Ball, hosted by the Education Body they had studied under.

    On the subject of Gloves:
    A good friend of mine (Gilly) used to lodge students (through a local agency), who attended a nearby University. She had several anecdotes to recount, some pleasant, others.... not so much.
    One time, she was housing a student from Japan, a lovely girl, who kept very much to herself, and would come to collect her meal and take it up to her room to eat. She always wore cotton gloves when she came downstairs.
    This puzzled Gilly, who was a conscientious housewife, and kept the place clean, so this insistence on wearing cotton gloves, she thought somewhat puzzling, if not a little rude.
    A couple of weeks after this young lady had moved in, the Agency rang Gilly to see how things were going, and my friend replied all well and good, in part, but relayed the situation of the gloves and disappearance...

    A day or so later, the Agency called back.
    They explained that the young lady had been brought up by what seemed to be 'Old School' parents, and the reason she ate upstairs was that she had never been formally invited by my Gilly, to eat with the family, so she considered joining them for meals as disrespectful. The gloves prevented HER from 'contaminating' their property. She did not have permission to touch their things, so she wore gloves to create a respectful barrier between herself and their things. Again, to remove them, she would have to be invited.

    What Gilly had perceived as odd and aloof, had actually been the effort on the part of the girl to do as she felt right.

    That evening, when she returned from University, Gilly met her at the door, and asked her if she would please join the family from now on, to take meals with them, and that nothing would give them more pleasure than her company. When the girl came down with gloves on, Gilly advised her kindly that they would not be necessary, and that Gilly would be very happy if she were to take them off...

    This was...Oooh, must be 20 years ago, now? The all still keep in touch.

    lobster
  • Everyone was once a lady...

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Actually... strictly speaking....? Not quite....

    As early as 1983, the idea of femaleness being merely the absence of maleness was out of date. As Rose, Lewontin and Kamin(1) point out, there is a specific 'feminisation' process. Clearly there must be two X chromosomes, otherwise the gamete cells die, as in X0 (Turner's Syndrome), and the ovary atrophies. Moreover there is a rise in estrogens in the female embryo at six weeks, paralleling the rise in androgens in the male.

    Nevertheless, the process of female development does not appear to have been studied in depth, being taken as a sort of default state, and Fausto-Sterling(2) criticises "the willingness of researchers to accept at face value the idea of passive female development."

    Until the eighth week, the external genitalia grow identically for either sex, but by twelve weeks, for a female, the genital tubule develops into a clitoris, while the urogenital membrane develops towards the labia.

    In the male fetus, an enzyme, 5 alpha reductase, converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. The genital tubule instead becomes a penis, while the urogenital membrane fuses to become the scrotum.

  • Not quite....

    Well, at the risk of some very weird answers, what are males doing with nipples, then?

  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    What IS a lady ?

    ...Just another attachment to let go of...

  • Sugar and spice, and everything nice.

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    @IronRabbit said:
    Not quite....

    Well, at the risk of some very weird answers, what are males doing with nipples, then?

    They're a throwback to when we ran things and they were modelled on us.... ;)

    Kundo
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    @IronRabbit said:
    Not quite....

    Well, at the risk of some very weird answers, what are males doing with nipples, then?

    http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/why-do-men-have-nipples/

    David
  • KundoKundo Sydney, Australia Veteran

    What IS a lady?

    Don't ask me, I'm Australian :tongue:

    silverDairyLama
  • KundoKundo Sydney, Australia Veteran

    @techie said:
    What is a lady?

    Think of the moderator - her traits, her behavior.

    Now imagine the opposite. That's a lady. :p

    You my friend, have balls of steel.......

    Tigger
  • VastmindVastmind Memphis, TN Veteran
    edited January 2017

    Oh hell no! Are you drunk posting techie?

    Shoshinsilver
  • techietechie India Veteran

    @Vastmind said:
    Oh hell no! Are you drunk posting techie?

    It's a joke, relax. I am sure the moderator will have a good laugh at this too.

  • VastmindVastmind Memphis, TN Veteran

    Good luck with that....

    federicasilver
  • silversilver In the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded. USA, Left coast. Veteran

    @techie said:

    @Vastmind said:
    Oh hell no! Are you drunk posting techie?

    It's a joke, relax. I am sure the moderator will have a good laugh at this too.

    pointing out he didn't deny it...
    only reasn I'm up is I sprained my wrist - cant type w my left hand, cant move it wo pain. ... glad I did - woodnt miss this 4 th world!
    :grin:

  • @Techie try and be more lady-like, like our beloved moderator - for the sake of your gum drops ...

    @Silver glad to see your spelling has improved ... :glasses: May your pain be eased. Some lady had better do some Medicine Buddha mantra for you. Lobster raises gum drops claw. o:)

    silverTigger
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    @silver said:

    @techie said:

    @Vastmind said:
    Oh hell no! Are you drunk posting techie?

    It's a joke, relax. I am sure the moderator will have a good laugh at this too.

    pointing out he didn't deny it...
    only reasn I'm up is I sprained my wrist - cant type w my left hand, cant move it wo pain. ... glad I did - woodnt miss this 4 th world!
    :grin:

    You need some Dog Oil. It's an absolutely amazing ointment.... I mixed it with Tiger Balm and it clears muscular pain so fast, I'm astounded at how efficient it is. No kidding.

    Kundolobster
  • techietechie India Veteran

    @federica said:

    @dhammachick, balls of steel are like gum-drops to me.

    Now that's more lady-like. ;)

    Seriously, @federica, if you find it insulting please delete the comment. Didn't mean to hurt anyone, just thought it'd be okay in a general banter forum.

    lobsterTigger
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    Of course it's ok in a General Banter forum.
    Is 'dishing it out' any different to 'taking it'....? ;)

    lobsterTigger
  • TiggerTigger Toronto, Canada Veteran

    This has been a very amusing thread, thanks for the good laughs this Monday morning <3

  • silversilver In the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded. USA, Left coast. Veteran
    edited January 2017

    dog oil? poor doggies! :cry: (j/k)

    heading out to my urgent care facility now :(

  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran

    Mary Poppins was definitely a lady. :p

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