[Ads-l] sexist "crazy"

[Jonathan Lighter]

In my experience, "screwball" (popularized in the '30s) is another unisex
term.

A "screwball comedy" has screwball characteristics. It is not named for the
female lead - though there usually is one, and a male lead as well.

Cf. the unisex "screwy."

JL



JL

On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 1:19 PM, W Brewer <brewerwa at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: sexist "crazy"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> <Screwball comedy>
> Wikipi:  << The screwball comedy is principally an American genre of comedy
> film that became popular during the Great Depression, originating in the
> early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s. Many secondary
> characteristics of this genre are similar to the film noir, but it
> distinguishes itself for being characterized by a female that dominates the
> relationship with the male central character, whose masculinity is
> challenged. >>
> It seems this use of <screwball> has a semantic component [+female].
>    I Love Lucy because she was a "screwball redhead".
>
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