Is calling women ' birds ' or duck rude ?

[YogaRebel]

I was brought up to believe referring to a woman as a ' bird' is quite rude and belittling. Eg I saw him with his bird the other day.
What his new birds name ?

My husband disagrees - he thinks it's a term of endearment / description and just a colloquialism in certain parts of the country.

I'd say that's true of duck eg ' Ay up me duck ' but not convinced about bird. I don't want my teenage son referring to girls as birds but I'm told I'm being OTT.

Really really do not like 'bird' at all!

'Look at those birds' ... (not envy)

He was with his bird’
‘She was with her bloke’

Regionally the 'bloke' equivalent would be 'lass" with 'lass' referring to woman rather than a young girl. In the same way 'lad' or 'lads' is used to refer to men rather than young boys.

I've had female friends call me bird as is 'alright bird' and 'ow you doing bird' but only in Devon.

Bird is rude/ belittling. It’s not part of a local way of speaking.

Duck is fine if it’s part of the local dialect/ vocabulary. Same with “love” - it’s fine if you’re in an area where it’s used for everyone, male and female, but not otherwise.

Context is important.
You can call someone hamster in the right way and it'd be offensive.

A woman calling her best friend a 'Bird' for example.
Even if a man called his partner 'Me Bird' it'd be up to her to decide if she's offended, no one else.

I grew up with duck bring used for and by both men and women. It's a warm and inoffensive expression.
I dislike 'bird' as a term for girlfriend. It's very '1970s sitcom' to me but where I live now 'bird' is used by and about women in a similar way to duck, e.g. How was your weekend, bird?

Grew up in London, where bird is normal - can't get worked up about it tbh. It's the equivalent of fella or bloke to me

Me and my friends quite often refer to each other as birds, but, I personally find a man referring to women as birds totally disrespectful.

DP calls me bird. So does DF, he always has for as long as I remember.

I've never heard either of them call an unknown/generic woman a bird (like 'who's that bird' - he'd never say that) DF calls a few women that he is particularly close to 'bird'. (his SIL, a close female friend, his DN) he also calls men bird - but doesn't have to be especially close to them to do so.

I've never heard DP call anyone bird except me.

I'm SW like Tal45 so it's probably regional.

Oh, DM has a parent from. Durham and calls both men and women 'duck'

I don't like bird, it was used quite a bit on TV programmes in the 70s. Especially the godawful On The Buses with two horrible old men chasing after young women every week.

My dad, and my aunt both in their 90s all call me and other female family members duck. It's normal to us and I find it perfectly OK.

Just realised that might not be clear - DF and DP both would only ever call someone 'bird' to their face. Like 'alright bird?'

Duck is regional and used for everyone, like 'pet' is in the NE.

Bird is the same as chick, only used for women and very belittling and possessive.

Bird is also incredibly old-fashioned. I don't know anyone under the age of 90 who uses it!

Neither bother me at all.

In liverpool we say bird. Woman will say it about other woman seen Tim an his new bird and men will introduce his new girl as his bird doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Bird is also incredibly old-fashioned. I don't know anyone under the age of 90 who uses it!

That probably because it is mainly used by men and they don’t use it while you are present.

Most 90 year olds couldn’t care less.

Everyone is a duck in Notts and Derbyshire. It’s more like our version of ‘mate.’

I’ve not heard the term ‘bird’ used about women for yonks. In fact if I heard it now id almost think someone was being all post modern and amusing.

I call OH bird as a pet name

I wouldn't use it to describe someone I didn't know. I wouldn't say "that bird over there" or whatever, I know it's offensive to some people

Bird is also incredibly old-fashioned. I don't know anyone under the age of 90 who uses it!

Really depends where you're from and the circles you move in. I'm from South East London and it's common amongst all ages.

Bird is derogatory/denigratory and not OK imo.

Duck is a term of endearment and quite different.

Duck is a term of endearment in North Staffs/South Yorks. Also 'Bird' is in some areas. It's not always meant as patronising or rude. Context is everything...

2 friendly Liverpudlian women (or Liverpudlian men) saying to their friend walking towards them... 'oh alright bird!' is ok...

A man saying to his mate 'where's ya bird?' is a bit rude.

JMHO.

I don't see bird as offensive or derogatory although it is often used as such.

I often hear men talk about their partners as 'their bird' in a way which is clearly non derogatory - I went to the pub with my bird. It's similar to 'old man' for father. I think its clear that the origins are probably mildly pejorative but I think it is used in all ways nowadays.

Yeah I don't mind duck, it feels endearing but bird is generally used by men talking about women, not to womens faces. Noone ever says "you alright, bird?". It feels more disrespectful to me, and I wouldn't want my son using it either. It might seem like a small thing but it's small things that build up to help reinforce the subconscious thinking that women are objects or lesser and that men can talk about them how they wish or in derogatory manners.

Bird referring to a woman has been around for centuries. In the 1300s the word "burde" was a term of endearment for a young woman/maiden used in poetry. Some people think this is where "bird" originates from, others disagree.