very minor note on "lady" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

I'm with Bill.

A "bag lady" is a bag lady.  To some she might be a "bag woman," but to me
that can only be a lady who who collects and delivers bribes, bets, etc.,
for crooks.  Like a bagman, only a lady.

JL
,
On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 9:49 AM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: very minor note on "lady" (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> I only am familiar with "bag lady" (a woman who talks to herself on the
> street, carrying bags -- looks like a homeless person), not "bag woman".
>
> Also not mentioned so far is "cat lady" (a (usually) older, single woman
> who has way too many cats in her home).  As opposed to Cat Woman (a sexy
> woman of the build of Lee Meriwether, Michelle Pfeiffer, Halle Berry,
> Julie Newmar, etc. who wears too tight clothing and purrs -- Eartha Kitt
> never really did it for me.)
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of
> > victor steinbok
> > Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 4:05 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: very minor note on "lady"
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> > -
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: very minor note on "lady"
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------
> > -
> >
> > That's probably because most of us hear it as "bag woman", not to be
> > confused with equally notoriously diagnostic "bagman".
> >
> > VS-)
> >
> > --"By God, woman! What more do you want from me?!"
> >
> > On Mon, Apr 18, 2011 at 2:15 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> > <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > I don't think this thread has mentioned the notoriously diagnostic
> "bag
> > > lady."
> > >
> > > JL
> >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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