[Lexicog] Origin and synonyms of "wimp"

[Allan Johnson]

Thanks for explaining the background of this.  Yes, you're right - if somebody were to tell me that I understand women, I guess I'd actually have to be rather gullible to take it as a serious compliment : )

Allan

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Fritz Goerling 
  To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 10:41 AM
  Subject: RE: [Lexicog] Origin and synonyms of "wimp"



    Allan, 
    When using this term in this "game",  the assumption is that men and women have different communication styles
    ( that is why so many books are written about this fact nowadays) and as a result have communication
    problems. So if a man TEASES another man (I wrote "insult" in quotation marks), it is a mock insult.
    The other man, usually a friend, being fully aware that the perfect man does not exist who understands
    women, will probably laugh. That is the spirit of the game: good-natured bantering. 
    What you say about trying to understand women is, of course, a worthy goal (and vice versa) but that is not
    the point of the game. 

    Nobody is perfect, I am nobody,

    Fritz




     
    Hi Fritz,

    I don't see a way to translate it as a derogatory term.  If I were to be accused of "understanding women", it would come across to me as a compliment.  I think that to seek such understanding is a worthy goal for a man - particularly if he's married : )  

    Allan

      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Fritz Goerling 
      To: lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com 
      Sent: Monday, June 27, 2005 5:39 AM
      Subject: RE: [Lexicog] Origin and synonyms of "wimp"


      A man with effeminate, unmanly characteristics that are opposed to the usual stereotypical macho male behaviour 
      would be a "Tunte" in German. That term is very derogatory. There is a social game among men in Germany
      nowadays, where men "insult"/tease one another as "wimps" by all kinds of terms (over 2000 already and new ones are
      coined every day). Among the top ones is "Frauenversteher" = a man who understands women. Is there a good
      translation of that one into English?

      Fritz Goerling

      Don't know about the etymology of wimp, but an American English synonym is 
      ' wuss.' That one's origins seem clear: 'pussy' (derogatory, feminine 
      acting male) => puss => wuss.  Some would say that using the word 'wuss' 
      marks one as a 'wuss,' reluctant to use the less PC original term.

      Jim Long

      At 12:18 AM 6/25/2005 +0200, you wrote:
      >Where does "wimp" come from?
      >What are some of its  "synonyms" in English (American, British, or other 
      >variants of English)?
      >
      >Fritz Goerling



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