Children referring to "ladies" (lighthearted - I say this wearily, just in case)

[ChampagneTastes]

My 3yr old DS has started pointing at me and saying "you're a LAAADIE" in the manner of Little Britain. Apart from find Little Britain mildly distasteful I don't like it and I have found myself correcting him, telling him that no, I'm a woman. He does not accept this.

My DH says he thinks "lady" is the polite way for a 3 yr old to refer to a female older person.

AIBU to dislike it and want him to say "woman" instead?

My ten-year-olds have started coming out with things like, "Where's my tea, woman?"

Be careful what you wish for...

Why not just teach him that both are correct in context?

Personally, we use lady, I think it's more polite, for instance I would say in the supermarket "ds will you please stop swinging the basket because you are hitting that lady on the back of the knees' or at the bus stop "dd please let the lady on first" etc.

"That woman" just sounds rude. It's "Lady" here too.

Multivac you may have a point. Do you think it would sound better if they said "where's my tea lady?"

DoJo what IS the context though? My immediate response to being called a lady is to say "that's no lady, that's my wife" and then fall about laughing. I tend to be on my own with that though.

In my view lady is to woman, what gentleman is to man. It's just a politer sounding word.

I think woman sounds a bit abrupt in certain contexts.

'Say thank you to the woman' or 'Say thank you to the lady'

Lady just sounds a bit friendlier.

ChampagneTastes No - that just sounds like they're asking for the person, rather than the food/hot beverage. Although that could just be the lack of comma...

Overthinking?

Personally I think 'woman' sounds somewhat common and disrespectful.
That may just be because I was always reprimanded when younger for referring to someone as 'woman' rather than 'lady'
Lady is definitely politer IMO.

Why is woman less polite though? We aren't ladies unless we are aristocracy.

I use "that kind woman" or "that nice woman" as I'm too aware that some use "woman" as a contemptuous word.

We had an interesting talk earlier. DS was on about dinner ladies at school. One of them is a man, apparently. We aren't sure what to call a male dinner lady.

We settled on dinner man.

There is totally a genuine conversation to be had here about the language of gender, and how 'lady' and 'gentleman' are no longer equivalent any more than 'master' and 'miss' are, and why... but I am studiously avoiding it due to your insistence on lightheartedness, OP....

Multivac - go for it. I only insisted it was lighthearted because the last time I posted something mildly whimsical I got ripped to pieces.

And I apologise for the lack of comma - I may have had some wine.

I do agree that it sounds politer to say "that lady" rather than "that woman" but is that just conditioning? And if it is, shouldn't we be trying to change it with our children? Because there is something dismissive about "lady" I think.

I have never ever heard of any woman be offended by being called a lady, other than on Mumsnet!

Yanbu to dislike being called a 'lady', that's entirely up to you. But why the angst over the word? It's absolutely fine and completely interchangeable with 'woman' as far as Im concerned.

MorrisZapp

There you go; not a 'dinner gentleman'. Why not?

Why do we feel the need to classify females we don't know (how many threads start with "So, I was minding my own business, and this bloody lady starts telling me that I'm parenting all wrong...'), but not men?

I have never ever heard of any woman be offended by being called a lady

I am one of those women. I have to suppress the urge to growl whenever someone tells their child to "say thank you to the lady". Why not just "say thank you"?

Scarlett I'm not convinced it IS interchangeable, as all the people who have said it sounds "politer" have shown.

Tneconni Yes! Exactly!

"I have never ever heard of any woman be offended by being called a lady, other than on Mumsnet!"

Neither have I.

"and how 'lady' and 'gentleman' are no longer equivalent"

I don't agree.

Oh, this thread takes me back. When DD1 was a toddler and having her first sleepover without DH and I at grandparents, her grandmother was very worried about the dubious honour of her PFGC's presence so slept beside her, on a blow-up mattress. One of the many reasons I adore her

Poor MIL was woken at some ungodly hour by DD doing a sixth-sense style whisper at her " You're not a lady"

Pause for effect while MIL tries to work out what's going on, then...

"YOU'RE NOT A LADY!!!"

Dd1 promptly went back to sleep, leaving MIL but very

Have you ever heard of a 'dinner gentleman' Bunbaker?

And, to be clear, I'm not offended by being called a lady. Just mildly uncomfortable.

Good work, ScrambledSmegs' daughter...

Scrambled your daughter sounds terrifying!

ScrambledSmegs you know when people post how they're "actually crying"? Yeah, you did that.