[Ads-l] bossy pants/bossypants

[Dan Goncharoff]

Is the phrase inherently sexist? A guy would just be called bossy; a woman
is called bossypants.
DanG


On Thu, Nov 12, 2020 at 11:24 AM Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Not in the OED or Merriam-Webster.
>
> Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bossy_pants <
> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bossy_pants>) has labeled as informal.
>
> The Spectator, vol 256, apparently 1986, has it twice
> https://tinyurl.com/yytg8xcm <https://tinyurl.com/yytg8xcm>
>
> ###
> Having quite successfully built up the impression of Mrs Thatcher as a
> petulant bossy pants who cannot bear to lose even on a single relatively
> minor issue…
>
> When people understand what [Mrs Thatcher] is up to, they regard her as a
> great leader; when they don’t, she is a bossy pants.
> ###
>
> Benjamin Barrett (he/his/him)
> Formerly of seattle, WA
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org