Chick

James Smith jsmithjamessmith at YAHOO.COM
Mon Nov 15 17:03:16 UTC 1999


Does "chick" have any roots in Spanish "chica", or is
its etymology entirely within the English language(s)
and only in reference to an animal?

Can the apparently resurgent popularity of "chick" be
tied to increasing exposure to Spanish, in which
"chica" has a different, less patronizing meaning?

JIM (who's brother-in-law, of Swiss ancestory, was
known as "Chico" all his life.)

--- Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU>
wrote:
> The women, and thankfully men, who are surprised or
> take offense at the
> term know of the long history of trying to get rid
> of animal-based terms
> for women (far fewer animal words are used for men).
>   So now they're
> coming back!  What kind of connotation does 'chick'
> have for you--little,
> soft, cute, fluffy, playful, high-peeped, to be
> cuddled in the palm of the
> hand?  Is this how you want to be viewed?  And,
> maybe more importantly, do
> only your female friends use this term (mutually, I
> assume), or do your
> male friends use it too--non-mutually, I assume?  Or
> do you call young
> males 'chicks' also?
>
> At 12:13 PM 11/12/99 -0600, you wrote:
> >I am in college.  Now and in high school, my
> friends and I have used
> >"chick", when we are talking amongst ourselves.  We
> do not take offense to
> >it.  Many other women do, though, and some men are
> surprised that we use the
> >term.
> >What is it about "chick" that is offensive to some
> people?
> >
> >-Beth Bradley
> >
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Tom Kysilko [mailto:pds at VISI.COM]
> >Sent: Friday, November 12, 1999 1:41 AM
> >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >Subject: Chick
> >
> >
> >Further evidence of the rehabilitation of "chick":
> >
> >The cover story of the Fall 1999 issue of the
> Carleton College alumni
> >magazine tells of a young alumna who took a crew of
> high school girls from
> >SF to Baja and back on a schooner.  The title of
> the article is "Moby
> >Chick".
> >
> >
> >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >   Tom Kysilko        Practical Data Services
> >   pds at visi.com       Saint Paul MN USA
> >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>




=====

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