steven@qubix.UUCP (Steven Maurer) (12/13/83)
German English Meaning
Frau Woman (or Lady) Older, married, or unavailable
female.
Fraulein Girl Nubile, desirable, female.
Madchen (little) Girl Female child.
----------------
I read quite a bit about the argument "I am NOT a child, so I shouldn't
be called girl" argument, on this newsgroup. Let us set the air clear
for once and for all: "girl" in english, has two meanings. (LOOK IT UP
IN THE DICTIONARY, IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME). There fore the above
argument in quotations, is stupid, silly, and meaningless.
After shooting down one of their favorite whines, let me now do the
feminist movement a favor, by showing why "girl" should not be used in
a number of situations:
Too often certain men refer to women as girls, even in situations
that do not warrant it -- in business, at receptions, or anywhere
else where the sex of the person should not matter. This is an
insult, because it implies that the female is there merely for
the tililation of the speaker). This should be retarded as much
as possible. "Girl" belongs in "girlfriends", in rock songs, and
in discos, but not as the "girls at the office".
Steven Maurerriddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (12/14/83)
Although I shouldn't try to pass myself off as a real expert (I'm far
from a native speaker), I just got back this fall from nearly a year
of speaking German on a daily basis, and here's my reaction to Steve
Maurer's "Frau/Fraeulein/Maedchen" paradigm: I'm sure that's what it
says in the textbook, but most people don't talk that way.
"Frau" means (1) woman, (2) wife, and (3) Mrs.
"Fraeulein" means (1) Miss and (2) waitress. (Both of these forms may
be dying out.)
"Maedchen" means (1) little girl and (2) young woman, etc., much like our
confused English "girl".
College students speak casually of "ein Maedchen in meinem Seminar" just
as American college students refer to "a girl in my class". I can't
imagine anybody saying "ein Fraeulein in meinem Seminar"!
As for how the big "woman/girl" controversy translates into German, I suspect
that we'd need a real expert to judge on that. I'm not sure, but the phrase
"die Maedchen [plural] in meinem Buero" sounds less likely to my ear than
the offending English usage "the girls in my office" (that is, using "girl"
to refer to grown women). I suspect that there may be some vestigial use of
"Fraeulein" in this way, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone who tried it
didn't get his lights punched out for it!
(By the way, the German vocabulary is complicated by many equivalents of
"gal" and the like which vary a great deal in regional dialects, I'm sure.)
----
Prentiss Riddle
{ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle