I was called a Spinster at work today, I was really offended.

Really....?
I'm sure I could not be offended by such a minor thing.
It's an old fashioned term that's all.

It was totally unnecessary for her to use the word, even if she didn’t properly understand it

I’ d be tempted to just put my hand on her arm and tell her I’d pray for her but yes OP I’d be really annoyed by it

The legal term was changed from spinster to single in 2005, so not that long ago

I wish I had remained a spinster. It would have cut out a large amount of aggravation 😆

It's just a word, outdated though. As far as I know the Church if England still use it when reading wedding banns - ' Mary Jane, spinster off the parish. They certainly did for me but that was 20 years ago. It made me laugh at the time as I was only in my twenties but it is factual correct.

a woman who is not married, esp. a woman who is no longer young and seems unlikely ever to marry

This strikes me as aspirational. To be older, not be married and have no fucking intention of ever getting married. Bring it on!

No-one would call someone a spinster with out doing it to offend them. What a bitch.

Embrace it!

I've had a very wild and reckless past and happily call myself a spinster now. I snigger to myself when smug marrieds with 2.4 children assume I'm a shrivelled up crone. 25 years ago they'd have been scandalised at what I was getting up to.

Don't give the boring conventionals head room.

Very judgy, rude person. I’d call her out if she does something like that again. (I wouldn’t have thought of something clever to say at the time either, I’d have been too taken aback).

I’m 54 and until I just googled it I thought it just meant an unmarried woman the same way bachelor is an unmarried man. Maybe she’s uneducated like me?

Historically Spinsters didn’t need to marry because they were financially independent, if I remember correctly. It was an enviable state.

If she's Bulgarian and English is her second language, albeit well mastered, I'd give her the benefit of the doubt on the basis she has read it and used it as vocabulary without understanding context.

If she's like my bitter MIL, 89, she'd know full well the context but innocently used the word to wound. Because she's a cow.

Really rude.
What a cow.
Her card would be totally marked and frosty would be my manner going forward.

Best to just ignore idiots Op - don’t give her anymore headspace than you already have.

I haven’t heard the word used in 30 years, I’m mid 40. Don’t give it too much attention or excuse it as culture. She is just rude, someone who has little experience or respect, now you know how she is, buckle up for some sharp responses to her in the future.

Were the commentators from the 18th Century? I'd just laugh it off, and maybe indicate that I couldn't decide whether I preferred men or women.

Presumably this is someone who has LPs at home played on a gramaphone, listens to the wireless, and refers to the lavatory instead of toilet or loo.

YANBU to find it outdated or worse.

Its not something I would say to someone but do you think bachelor sounds as negative as spinster? It is the official word I suppose x

Id have been irritated. But knowing that a spinster was a woman with independent money, through spinning, separate to a man at a time when that was rare would have stopped me from punching her.

I would tell her that she is an arse-hole.

Well according to all the posts I see on social media these days, from young women who absolutely don't want a boyfriend, it sounds like you are manifesting #relationship goals. 😁

You should’ve laughed in her face and said “Spinster? Give it a rest grandma”.

Its the kind of comment I’d expect from some clueless pensioner, not someone in their 40s.

I guess a lot of it depends on their tone when they've said it- I could see it possibly being a bit teasing or genuinely clueless. It is kind of rude. Mind you if someone said 'oh you're a bastard' on learning my parents were never married I would be surprised but not really hurt, just think they are a bit clueless.