I've never heard "confirmed bachelor" to mean "homosexual." But I can see how that meaning could evolve. Whenever a person, man or woman, remains single, others wonder why, and tongues begin to waggle. It's not hard to imagine that a man who remains unmarried -- a bachelor -- might possibly be gay, and one who is a "confirmed bachelor" most certainly is. All hogwash, of course.
I remember "bachelorette" used on "The Dating Game" in the 1970s, but I can't recall hearing it elsewhere.
Apparently a "bachelor" at one time was a novice knight.
Bachelor does not have the connotation of gayness for me. This reminded me of a sample question in a semantics class I took many years ago: "Is the Pope a bachelor?"
[Edited typo.]
This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,
Originally posted by zmjezhd: Bachelor does nothave the connotation of gayness for me. This reminded me of a sample question in a semantics class I took many years ago: "Is the Pope a bachelor?"
The term "bachelor" often conjures up two conflicting images over here. One is a young man who's totally irresponsible and sows acres of wild oats whenever he gets the chance and the other is an ineffectual middle-aged or elderly man in a shapeless cardigan and drab trousers who seems to make it his life's work to complain about everything very loudly and at great length. I've never heard it in the context of gayness though.
At least it's not as bad as "spinster" . That evokes pictures of a dried-up middle-aged or elderly schoolmarm - again in drab shapeless clothes - who prissily disapproves of everything.
That's why I call myself Ms. I'm divorced and I changed my name so I'm no longer a Mrs, and Miss always makes me think of a little girl or the aforementioned spinster.
Every person you encounter, whom you interact with, is there to teach you something. Sometimes it may be years before you realize what each had to show you. Raymond E. Feist
According to Bierma, Americans & French differ with their sayings about incomprehensible language. While the Americans say, "It's Greek to me," the French say "C'est du chinois" -- meaning, "It's Chinese."
Originally posted by Kalleh: Double Dutch? What does that mean? I can understand Greek or Chinese, but not that.
Would the Engish say "It's Greek" or "It's Chinese"?
Zmj, we really don't mind about edits on this board, which I know is different from other boards that get all paranoid about them.
The phrase "Double Dutch" dates back to historical times when we in Britain (more specifically in England) were at war with the Dutch on and off for about 150 years or so around the late 15th - mid 18th centuries. It's used to denote speech or writing that seems like meaningless gibberish.
We also say "it's all Greek to me" to mean the same thing.
Every person you encounter, whom you interact with, is there to teach you something. Sometimes it may be years before you realize what each had to show you. Raymond E. Feist
The only way I've heard the term "double dutch" used is as a type of jump-rope. It's got two ropes - very complicated, and very cool to watch. Here is an interesting article I found about some adult jumpers.
******* "Show your true colors. Mine is Yellow." ~Big Bird
Yes, CW, I knew I'd heard of double Dutch somewhere! Speaking of double Dutch, Shu and I were at a restaurant today, and I heard 2 cute little girls say, "Let's play jump the coat!" Sure enough, they took their coats by the sleeves (much to their father's consternation!) and began jumping their coats. How fun! As Shu and I said, kids don't need expensive toys. It is often the big box or mom's old purse, etc., that will be their favorite toys!
There was a point when the Chicago Fox affiliate was showing Simpsons 16 times a week, but Friends must be on at least that much now, being spread out over several different networks.
Richard, from knowing you for 3 years now, I think I can safely predict that you would not enjoy the TV show "Sex in the City."
CW, I can understand your enjoying it, as some of the episodes are good. However, after awhile, I find that the espisodes all have the same plot. Each to his/her own. I know that many people dislike "Friends," which I find hilarious.
We usually call them cubicles over here. I'm not sure though whether that just applies to female toilets and whether the ones in men's are usually called stalls. There's been a lot of crossover between US and UK English over the past few years and the terms may now be interchangeable.
Every person you encounter, whom you interact with, is there to teach you something. Sometimes it may be years before you realize what each had to show you. Raymond E. Feist
. That evokes pictures of a dried-up middle-aged or elderly schoolmarm - again in drab shapeless clothes - who prissily disapproves of everything.
