"doll"

[spathiphyllum]

Is it rude to refer to a lady as "Doll"?

Is it OK to refer to a lady you know as "Doll"?

How would you feel if someone called you "Doll"?

[JimF]

It's very Scottish, especially in Glasgow - cf Rab C Nesbitt's wife: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rab_C._Nesbitt#The_Nesbitt_family

It's not a term I would use personally as I find it patronising and sexist.

[pixie374]

I think "sexist" is only a problem when it is inappropriate. I think (as a guess) the majority of women are quite happy to be seen as female.

[DTCwordfan]

I often get called 'doll' so cherubic that I am......snigger.

Hi pixie....

[Mamyalynne]

I had an Aunt Dolly (Dorothy). it's part of the derivation of the name.

https://www.etymonline.com/word/doll

[pixie374]

Hi doll :-) xx

[Tilly2]

I'm a 'duck' but I don't call anyone duck.

Tilly gets called 'Little babe' or 'sausage pot'.

[DTCwordfan]

'me old clotted cream' down here.....

[Theland]

Time and place dictates.
I call the ladies luv, darling, pet, but my female doctor is doctor.

[Mamyalynne]

That's wise Theland, doctors have access to sharp instruments.

[Theland]

Always respectful under the circumstances.

[vetuste_ennemi]

If you endorse the principle of multiculturalism then doesn't it necessarily follow that cultural attitudes (including those towards women or homosexuals) will vary across cultures? But that each cultural attitude has to be respected?

[Mamyalynne]

Wrong thread ?

[mibn2cweus]

I've been told to, "Be a doll and (whatever)" and although I don't particularly care to "be a doll" I usually go ahead and (whatever) anyway.

[BagPussAA]

Wouldnt bother me. I tend to call most people "sweetheart" or "love".. mostly because I'm terrible with names and I can't remember what people are called!

[Peter Pedant]

// Another stupid American import that we can't shake off. //
yeah why cant we just use good old johnny English expressions ?
I am sir an Englishman ( Monk Stogumber, in St Joan, written by that irishman G B Shaw I think)

an dat awful German import - Wilhelm Shakespeare in Heinrich IV part 2, jesus why didnt he give up after one episode henry I ? heinrich I mean. Thousands of schoolkids would have been grateful

Shakey wrote of Doll Tearsheet - a leddy of the night. You know they kiss men for money
I know that Shakespeare used 'Doll' as a name in 1590 and I am the only one on AB to know that, surpriseth me not one jot.

( alorra americanisms are old uses which have dropped out of English but been retained. according to well known rules that languages mutate the fastest at their point of origin) hi hum..... life as we know it goes on on AB

[spathiphyllum]

Check this out:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/bird-babe-and-doll---the-20-sexist-pet-names-women-want-to-ban/


"they kiss men for money"


Ohh aye

[spathiphyllum]

I would relate the term 'doll' more to this urban dictionary meaning. Maybe cuz i'm urban, ennit.

"a term of endearment used to talk about/to a pretty girl; dollface
"Hey doll! I left a message on your cell last night...""

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=doll

[Mamyalynne]

You are not the only one Peter, I gave the etymology yesterday.

[Peter Pedant]

// If you endorse the principle of multiculturalism then doesn't it necessarily follow ..(yappy bit excised to prevent exhaustion)..... will vary across cultures? //

oh, didnt expect that...
no - only if the units of multiculture are atomic - one person is each culture and differs from a neighbour.
So no within that culture - notwithstanding there may differing views within that culture ( all that means is that not every englishman thinks Boris is a good thing, let alone everyone in Brussels )

if incest is taboo in one culture then it cant be in the next follows from V-e's assumption and I say that does NOT necessarily follow ( by observation and logic) ....

so no after all, it doesnt necessarily follow ....

wrong thread asks Mama Doll
, no right thread still rubbish ter daaah !

[Cloverjo]

Interesting list posted by spath at 09.04.
I think quite a few of those are also often applied to men. ‘Drama queens’ aren't exclusively female.
‘Manipulative’ has been used a lot recently to describe the soon-to-be PM.
I’m not sure what’s wrong with ‘high-maintenance’. I use it often to describe men and women who are always in the gym/hairdresser/nail bar. Maybe I’m just ‘bi tchy’.