Cambridge dictionary drops new definition of the word ‘woman’

[Coconutmeg]

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

It shows the demise of 'female' as a term referring to the female sex. Now anyone wishing to identify as an adult human female can do so.

They - TRAs and those who give in to them - have taken away what we are. Fighting back has to involve removal of the idea that you can change your 'gender' or alter a birth certificate to say that you are a different sex from the one identified at birth.

Frankly my response to a male person stating they are an adult human female is to shrug and say in that case I identify as an attack helicopter.

Because it's just hit the point of being too silly to indulge any further. And anyone trying to tell me its 'polite' not to contradict the lunacy? I'm done with being polite. There is no reciprocation of care and I am not a mug.

It shows the demise of 'female' as a term referring to the female sex. Now anyone wishing to identify as an adult human female can do so.

Don't write the obituary on 'female' yet. It's too embedded as a real thing in the whole of biology. Sure, a few males may 'identify as female', but we are under no obligation to treat them seriously.

Female is not an identity, it's a fact.

'Woman' ok, I can squint a bit and pretend, but I'm not indulging the silliness of 'I'm a male female'. No. You really are not. And I'm done now, it's been pushed too far.

nilsmousehammer · Today 13:37
Female is not an identity, it's a fact.

'Woman' ok, I can squint a bit and pretend, but I'm not indulging the silliness of 'I'm a male female'. No. You really are not. And I'm done now, it's been pushed too far.

I agree.

And since when has it been considered ok for the Cambridge dictionary writer to be verging on illiterate?

an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth

As you say, no one can identify as ‘female’ as being a female is a physical state.

Sex cannot change from what it was at birth, and it is very unlikely that anyone only ‘may have been said’ to have been a certain sex at birth.

That’s a really poorly written sentence, from a book about words!

contact details if anyone wants to complain.

Modern dictionaries track usage - they are descriptive rather than proscriptive. This isn't a sinister conspiracy of woke lexicographers. Many people, probably most, refer to trans women as women. This definition reflects that.

Right re dictionaries, even if it makes them a bit nonsensical as with "literally".

I very much doubt right re 'most people'. Many people (men in particular) probably still refer to transwomen in terms which would rightly be deleted from MN, I fear.

Bollocks.

This has been imposed. Forcibly. For political and exceptionally misogynist reason. It's a lie.

an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth

Scientifically and logically illiterate, for sure. They were male at birth, and still are. They can live and identify as having a feminine 'gender identity', they may even be said to 'identify as a female', but they cannot cannot 'live as a female'

And again the mythical 'most people'.

No. Every single casual survey, everywhere, never reflects this as truth.

Take it to referendum. Let's see the objective, fair, unfiddled verdict on this as opposed to the identified as truth.

Quite. The only way to 'live as a female' is to exist within a female body.

It doesn't matter if it's many, most, or even some in the context of definitions. This is a commonly understood definition of woman.

Lexicographers look at how words are used. They use search engines and specialist databases to track usage. The fact that you don't agree with how some people use a word, doesn't mean that other people don't use it that way.

This is what they said about this:
"They carefully studied usage patterns of the word woman and concluded that this definition is one that learners of English should be aware of to support their understanding of how the language is used," the spokesperson said in a statement. "The first definition at the entry for woman remains unchanged and continues to be 'an adult female human being.'"

"Our dictionaries are written for learners of English and are designed to help users understand English as it is currently used," the spokesperson continued. "They are compiled by analysing a large corpus of English texts (over 2 billion words in total) taken from all areas of writing and publishing, which allows us to see exactly how language is used. We regularly update our dictionary to reflect changes in how English is used, based on analysis of data from this corpus."

I am genuinely surprised if anyone does use the word "woman" to mean "anyone who lives as a woman or trans man", which is what the dictionary is essentially defining it as by using "living as female" in its definition.

And my answer to that mound of pomo word salad remains bollocks.

Didn't the male preventing women from watching a documentary last night declare they were a 'female'?

So.... seems that Edinburgh University, if that is where they attend, is using a new dictionary as well.

And no. "Many people, probably most, refer to trans women as women."

Maybe have a look at the fact that the majority of people in Scotland recently polled that no, they don't agree with the self ID changes that the Scottish government is bringing in. I suspect that posters who continue with the 'probably most' believe that males can be women are just dishonest at this stage.

This is a commonly understood definition of woman.

The vast, vast majority of the uses of 'woman' is in its common meaning, 'adult human female'. I really doubt that if someone uses the word woman it's 'commonly understood' as definition 2 rather than definition 1 - outside of a very small circle. Or even as definition 1 plus definition 2. Some people might use 'woman' to mean women (def 1) plus males with a GRC.

Of course it may be that DadJoke also has an unusual definition of 'commonly understood'.

Here is that new Edinburgh edition of what female means, just in case people are not aware of the latest push to claim female as meaning male. It has been going on for a while, but this is just a reminder.

twitter.com/DalgetySusan/status/1603099110810128384?s=20&t=-nws6Lx-6T7ilJEnluBrXA

This seems apposite.

I think so Errol. 'Commonly understood' and 'maybe most'.

I think 'maybe most' might be inspired by wishful thinking though.

Serendipitously, while idly trawling back through xkcd cartoons I found this ...

xkcd.com/1860/

...make of that what you will...

No Dad

I'm sorry if you have been lead to believe that most people's use of the word "woman" for trans women means they actually consider trans women to be women.

Most people consider the use of "woman" and female pronouns for trans women to be an honorific akin to the use of "honourable" used to address MPs in Parliament. It's a recognition of their status but not in any way intended to be or expected to be understood as a statement of fact.

Most people would, in fact, be aghast that this act of kind politeness to trans women is being weaponised to demand that trans women should have access to any and all women-only resources simply on the strength of this entirely separate use of the same word.