Cambridge dictionary drops new definition of the word ‘woman’

[Coconutmeg]

It’s quite long to get in a t -shirt though.

Is the same under girl (replacing adult with child)? I’m not sure I can bring myself to look.

It appears to be the Cambridge University Press and Assessment dictionary. So quite a large organisation which is well established and might be expected to know better.

I hope the lexicographer or proofreader made the Mary error as a minor act of rebellion. Also, what a first name to choose as the example .

Under 'female' (dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/female)

"formal
used in technical or scientific writing to refer to a woman or girl:

The study participants included 350 males and 250 females.

Note:
Except in scientific writing, most people find this usage of female offensive."

Do they???

As a noun, yes I think most people do - the quotation is from the "female, noun" section. I think we have become more used to "female" used as a noun in more contexts, precisely because we've been losing "woman".

In Friday Night Dinner, the father used to interrogate his son about his love life by asking 'Any females?' or something on those lines. Maybe that's the sense they mean. My mother (90) would certainly object to being called a female, but then she and my Dad refer to their neighbour, long retired and well into her 70s, as a lovely girl, so what do they know!

My grandad used to get very agitated by 'bloody females', especially if they took to driving.

If it was really only a tiny minority this forum would have nothing to rail against.

If it was really only a tiny minority this forum would have nothing to rail against.

Rail against hey?

Not quite ‘get hysterical’ but close enough.

Yes. A tiny minority who have lots of influence despite them trying to claim constant oppression. It is quite the conundrum until you realise the sex of those in the positions of power.

Then it becomes quite clear.

This was always a risk when e we began emphasising the dictionary definition.

I can't comment on whether the dictionary compilers have been woked, but they do also record usage as well as actual definition. With so many organisations kowtowing to Stonelaw, it can appear that the usage of 'woman' has...evolved.

They also list other uses including woman as a sexual partner “Jeff has a new woman”, so is it acknowledging secondary uses of the word, rather than changing the definition per se?

I'm just saying, there are a lot of people who use the word "woman" when talking about a trans woman. It's not a tiny insignificant minority is it. That usage therefore needs to be included in the dictionary as one possible usage, along with the adult human female definition that is listed first. If it's SO few people that it's not worth even including their usage of words in the dictionary, how can you think they have so much influence?

there are a lot of people who use the word "woman" when talking about a trans woman. It's not a tiny insignificant minority is it.

There are a lot of people who use the word 'loose' when they mean 'lose'. Or the word 'less' when they mean 'fewer'.

Doesn't mean a dictionary is duty bound to use the inaccurate term.

I'm pretty sure there was a controversy recently where the dictionary added a definition of "literally" that included "really really" or something that is the "incorrect" people use it these days, and they said that the dictionary represents how people really use words and not what is "correct" in a grammatical sense.

Anyway that isn't really the same sort of thing, those are to do with words that are grammatically "correct" or incorrect. The dictionary has no place having an opinion on sex and gender issues. They've added a definition that many people use and I don't see a problem with that.

It wasn't so long ago that women (the old-fashioned kind) were campaigning to get the more offensive synonyms of 'woman' removed. These used to include bitch, bint, prostitute and others. This campaign went on for decades it was only recently that some were removed (and not all). How long did it take the TRAs to change the most fundamental definition and who has the power here? I assume that there still is an entry for 'patriarchy'.

www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/07/oxford-university-press-updates-definitions-word-woman

A definition got added though, an additional definition. The adult human female one is still there. Nobody removed anything.

Yes, this. That actually shouldn't be allowed. It doesn't mean anything or make any sense, much less give clarity.

Woman, noun, usually enhanced by presence of penis.

Urban dictionary is there for current slang usages. Actually literal use of the word by everyone who speaks the language should be in the proper dictionary.

How small of a minority of male rapists should I be worried about in a woman's prison? Only a small minority of women are Olympians but it does matter if they're affected by mediocre men.

Even a small minority that are using the legal system to affect a majority of women is a problem.

100% seconding everything @minimarshmallowsmore has said

I was confused too. Drop usually means "have abandoned" or "ceased to use" when I see a sentence like that.

As in dropped into the dictionary. Not dropped from the dictionary.

I don't disagree that a dictionary has no place having an opinion on sex and gender issues. My problem is with the wording 'may have been said to have had a different sex at birth.' There's no such thing. Everyone DOES have a sex at birth. It's not about people 'saying' it 'may' have been so.

My problem is with the wording 'may have been said to have had a different sex at birth.' There's no such thing. Everyone DOES have a sex at birth. It's not about people 'saying' it 'may' have been so.

And it's not 'a' different sex out of many. It's THE other sex. Male.

So it's "live and identifies as female" (? which raises far more questions than it answers - what is 'living as female' restricted to?) "even though they are male."

It's a far more restrictive definition than just being female, which ~50% of us are. They have to live in a specific way, which excludes people who don't act in that specific way.