What I was referring to was your explanation to truedog that the meaning of these terms had something to do with the circles one travelled in, vs. geography... ok, I suppose upperclass businesswomen are more likely to dislike the term "lady"... I'm sure thats what you must have meant, right? "Circle" referring to social circle I presume.
As to your examples, "Ladies and gentlemen" is just like "Ladies golf"... it has a historical significance, but is not personal... otoh referring to businesswomen as "ladies" is not ideal...as to "behaving like a lady", whatever, that sounds like another blast from the past to me, who cares? I can't imagine anybody saying that the CEO of some corporation "behaved like a lady". I guess its supposed to be complementary but it sounds undignified in a business capacity, and since most women between 25 and 50 these days are businesswomen, it seems like an outdated phrase. BTW you'd better check the public restrooms more often, they don't say "ladies" anymore, they say "women" with a universal symbol. |
