Showing posts with label words. Show all posts
Showing posts with label words. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

The Term "Housewife" and What We Need to Add

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Today, I have some inner-musings about words for you all. There's your fair warning; you're about to read an opinion piece. But bear with me, and maybe (just maybe) you'll get a chuckle and your brain will churn. Ready? Grab that cup of Jo and let's get going!

Starting off with why I began down this line of thought.

This morning, I say to The Best Husband in the World, "You may have married the best housewife on the planet."
He says, "I know I did."
It made me smile. Then, it made me think about the term "housewife."

Here's the definition from Google: a married woman whose main occupation is caring for her family, managing household affairs, and doing housework.

Okay. There are women out there who want that to be their only occupation, and it's perfectly acceptable. Please note: I'm NOT bashing housewives. I think everyone should do precisely what makes them happy. 

So, being me (slightly neurotic and curious from head to toe), I did a Google search on another term: Working Housewife.

I gasped at the results. There's no such term! My heart stopped, and I glared at my iPhone screen. Not only is every housewife on the planet a working one, their jobs are often thankless. Still, you have those women who excel at running a household and managing a career.

What I found were articles like: Perfect 50s Housewife Myth Busted. Do You Want to Have a Working Wife or a Housewife? Is it Better to Have a Working Wife or Housewife When Raising Kids?

How dare they? What the hell is the world coming to? Was there crack involved in the writing of these articles?

Because, I assure you, there is such a thing as a Working Housewife.

Then, I reconsidered (because that's what we do when we try to make sense of something nonsensical and we're about to have a stroke), and I tore apart the definition, thinking of this part separately: Main Occupation--means that's what you consider your primary job.

I pondered. I struggled. I chewed my nails. Then, I did a search for the term "working." Here's what I got: having paid employment.

Paid. So one must be paid in order to be considered working. Need I tell you how, at that point, I really got my panties in a twist? Because I did. My knickers were wound so tightly, I was positive I'd start sneezing cotton any minute.

Ho.Lee.Crap.

My blood pressure rising, my extremities tingling as the elastic tightened, I backtracked. Here's the definition of the noun: the action of doing work.

Slowly, my underwear released their restriction on my legs, and I was able to breathe again. I can guarantee every man on the planet would have kittens if their work in the yard or around the house wasn't considered work. While I still wasn't happy, I wondered if people actually considered a new term.

Now, I know a great number of women who do a great many things (from home) while taking care of their families. They manage to work from home, their houses and kids are clean, they pay all the bills, and they even manage (somehow) to cook a healthy meal most days.

Let's look at me! I do all of the above and run more than one business. I consider myself a housewife, but according to the definition, I'm not.

Because of the definition, I don't qualify. Neither do any of those other women I mentioned above.

I stand on my soapbox, teetering from one foot to the other, and hold up my sign today!

Redefine your preconceived notions!

We work. We're housewives (or housewomen). And there's nothing wrong with that. But I think we need a new definition.

Working Housewoman: a woman whose occupation is caring for her family, managing household affairs,  doing housework, and working from home.

My face is back to its usual color (I think), so I leave you with a question:
If you're a working housewoman, what do you do besides family?

I hope you got a little chuckle out of my predicament, and I hope you found my new definition suitable.

How would you change it?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Shocking News - Both Literary and Actionary

Happy Thursday, everyone! Today, I'm talking about some things I ran across on Flipboard yesterday. Lots to talk about so let's get going!

First of all, you should all be aware of how I feel about people talking. If people are talking, good or bad, you at least know you're on their minds. It could become big news if you're controversial and folks will flock to your wares to find out what all the fuss is about. Getting people to notice us is a huge hurdle for Indie authors.

Stop and think for a moment. J.K. Rowling enjoyed a lot of front page time because of Harry Potter. How many people were outraged that she was writing about, and *gasp* encouraging, people, children even, to believe in witches and wizards? How many of her books were purchased for the express purpose of being burned? What did this do for her? It made people sit up and take notice of her books. Whether they agreed with what she was writing or not, she was on their minds. And think of all the royalties she earned from the sales of those books they torched!

Why was this brought to mind? Well, because of dear little Miley Cyrus and her antics at the VMA awards. MTV said, "2013 MTV VMA’s Shatters Records Across Web, Mobile and Social." All because she twerked (more on this word in a moment, I just threw up in my mouth a little) Robin Thicke on stage - in underwear the color of her skin.

It's not that I give two nickles about what she did; it's that it worked. People are talking. Think about that.

I'm not telling you to go find a pop star to twerk on in your underwear. I'm saying that you need to write a book so good or so shocking that folks clamor over one another in an attempt to get a copy.

Just sayin'.

Moving on!

I also saw an article yesterday about words that were recently added to the Oxford English Dictionary (that link will take you to a whole page of add-ins). Take a look at this list:
  1. Stressy - Adj - displaying or characterized by anxiety, tension, or stress
  2. Boyf - Noun - a person’s boyfriend
  3. Bezzie - Noun - denoting a person’s best or closest friend
  4. Jumping the shark - Idiom - a particular scene, episode, or aspect of a show in which the writers use some type of "gimmick" in a desperate attempt to keep viewers' interest
  5. Cruft - Noun - badly designed, unnecessarily complicated, or unwanted code or software
  6. Dumbphone - Noun - a basic mobile phone that lacks the advanced functionality characteristic of a smartphone
  7. Phablet - Noun - a smartphone having a screen which is intermediate in size between that of a typical smartphone and a tablet computer
  8. Digital detox - Noun - a period of time during which a person refrains from using electronic devices such as smartphones or computers, regarded as an opportunity to reduce stress or focus on social interaction in the physical world
  9. Twerk - Verb - dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance (pop, drop, and lock, anyone?)

Here's a whole list of the updates for August, 2013: Buzzworthy Words Added to Oxford

Can I just say, "Holy crapballs, Batman!" *note, as of this post, "crapballs" is not a word* I wear black today to mourn the loss of intelligence in my world.

Please, take me out and shoot me. Is this really where we're headed? As a word-nerd, I'm a little bit offended, especially at the addition of: srsly.

SERIOUSLY?

What do you think of these new additions?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo