University of Almeria

Faculty of Humanities
Degree in English Studies

SEMANTIC CONFIGURATION OF SEXIST IDIOMS:

RADICAL NETWORKS AND CULTURAL SCRIPTS

Subject: English Lexicology and Semantics

Compiled by: Gangan Cristina

Course Coordinator: Carmen Maria Bretones Callejas, University Lecturer

Almeria 2020
 1. Introduction
First of all, language is the most complex and the most important structured system of
communication used by people. There are several types of languages, for instance, spoken,
written, or even body language, which is in permanent change and development. For this
reason, there is a scientific study called Linguistics, which explores languages, analyzes, and
tries to explain how they work, their specific peculiarities, and common features. To be more
specific, Linguistics consists of different branches and each of them investigates and
monitors changes in a particular part of a language. For example, Phonetics is required to
classify speech sounds, therefore Phonology is a study of phonemes, Morphology is a study
of words, Pragmatics is a study of meaning in the context of discourse, etc. Thus, language is
about acquisition, improvement, and maintenance for use.

Talking about the acquisition and namely second-language acquisition, the final stage
is considered to be learning, understanding, and using idiomatic expressions in
communication to sound like a native speaker because they highly use idioms and these are a
piece of cake for natives. Of course, there is a study called Phraseology which, also, is a
branch of Linguistics, that is concerned to explain idioms and find an appropriate meaning
even if they usually have figurative form and structure. According to Moon [1998: 3], “an
idiom is a particular lexical collocation or phrasal lexeme, peculiar to a language", an idiom
is a conventional expression whose meaning is impossible to deduce from the meaning of the
words it is made of. Also, under the definition given by Moon, idioms could vary from
language to language by form, by structure, or even by meaning.

Therefore, the meaning of the idiomatic expressions should be learned and not
predicted as Nunberg, Sag, and Wasow [1994] pointed out because normally they have a
historical context, that’s why they are so conventional: “Their meaning or use can't be
predicted, or at least entirely predicted, based on a knowledge of the independent
conventions that determine the use of their constituents when they appear in isolation from
one another."

Besides, there are several types of idioms that had been classified based on the new
grammar base. Actually, some different classifications are depending on the interpretations of
the linguists. The following classification was made by Fillmore, Kay, and O'Connor in 1988.
Thus, the first distinction is between encoding and decoding idioms, where encoding
expressions are that ones which could be understood based on the words that compose them,
for example, the expression 'blow your nose’ which according to Cambridge Dictionary
means “to force air from your lungs and through your nose to clear it"). But decoding idioms
represent expressions whose meaning is unpredictable, for instance, the expression 'kick the
bucket' means to die.

Another distinction is made between substantive and formal idioms, where

substantive idiomatic expressions are lexically filled: ‘hit the nail on the head’ which is
explained by the Cambridge Dictionary as “being exactly right about something”, and formal
idioms have an open slot and keep 'the…the' construction, for example, "The faster we run,
the slower they run".

The following distinction is between regular and extra grammatical idioms. Regular
or also called grammatical idioms follow classic rules of grammar: 'spill the beans' which
means to reveal secret information to someone, whereas extra grammatical idioms do totally
the opposite and stand against the usual grammatical structure: ‘long time no see’, an
expression which is said when people meet each other and haven’t seen for a very long period
of time.

Last but not least distinction given by Fillmore is between idiomatic phrases with and
without a pragmatic point, where idioms with a pragmatic point are specifically used in
certain pragmatic contexts: 'Good morning' or 'See you later' and where idioms without
pragmatic point could include the rest of idiomatic expressions that don't have a discourse-
contextual properties associated with them, for example 'all of a sudden.'

In addition to all, one of the most important parts of Linguistics is the study of as
many as possible relations, co-relations, interdependence, intersections between language and
gender. It is well-known that language, its structure and complexity reflect the country's
mentality, culture, and values. An indispensable part of any language is idioms, which could
say a lot about a nation's way of thinking.

Undoubtedly fact is that the English language is quite sexist because sexism directed
against women is easily found in the English lexicon. An example could be even a simple
word 'waiter’. Of course, there is a specific word for the female waiter is 'waitress'.
Apparently, everything is okay and nobody is discriminated against, but just when we try to
find a plural form for a female waiter, we understand how sexist is the English language
because there is just a plural form for this job 'waiters’ which belong to the male gender.
 It is quite important to know at least some sexist expressions to know how to keep
good relationships with the opposite gender and to avoid discrimination and based on idioms
classification established by Fillmore, Kay, and O'Connor, we will explore 10 famous
idiomatic and sexist expressions.

1. Analysis of 10 sexist idioms

Following the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, “to wear the pants”
could be applied to a love relationship where one of them, in this case, a woman, takes
control of the problematic situations and make a decision by herself for both partners. This
meaning come from the old ecclesiastical idea that women should wear more feminine
clothes like long skirt or dress, and a woman in pants, which was considered a masculine
piece of clothes, represented clear rudeness. This idiom emphasizes the leadership abilities of
the men, which nowadays are not above the women's abilities, but sometimes even under
them. Talking about construction grammar, this expression is a grammatical idiom, because it
follows the usual syntactic rules and it is a lexically open idiom and also an idiomatically
combining phrase.

The idiom “Like a girl” is almost every time used as an offend, namely against men,
when trying to make them feel inferior, weak, and not as good as a real man have to be. The
sexist expression also comprises feminine features of softness, delicacy, and uncertainty
which stereotypically can not belong to a man, being in this case vices. From the theoretical
point of view, the phrase “like a girl” is an idiom with a pragmatic point when it is used to
describe specific actions in certain contexts, and also it is a formal idiom because it can be
completed by adding other words, for instance ‘dance like a girl’ or ‘fight like a girl.’

The decoding idiom “manderstanding” is quite sexist because it refers to banter or

jokes that could be understood and agreed just between men and misunderstandable for
women, assuming that females are too sensible and usually confused or even disgusted when
hearing these jokes. Another decoding idiomatic expression “Don’t be a pussy” is
considered to be a synonym for not being a coward, and it is sexist because the word ‘pussy’
is colloquially related to women’s vagina. Subsequently, to be a pussy means to act like a
scared baby-girl, being afraid to do something quite dangerous.

The following substantive idiom with an open lexicon “Man up” or “Be a man”
underlines the braveness of men that should persist in everything they do when there is a
complicated situation where they have to take firmly a decisive decision or to show how
courage they can be. This expression is considered to be a motivational one and can be used
in addressing a man or even a woman to make them feel powerful and determined.

The next sexist phrase “Ladies’ men” describes the group of men who feel
themselves very comfortable in a women's company, having common topics to discuss,
understand each other perfectly, but there is nothing but friendship between them. This
expression is totally lexically filled because non of the words in this expression could be
replaced with another one, so it is a fixed phrase and also it is an encoding idiom because the
meaning can be guessed from the words the sentence is made of.

The expression “Man cannot live by bread alone” has a figurative meaning that is
usually used to say about art, poetry, music, and other soul's food which is also necessary for
a human being to live in harmony with their mind not just the body which needs ordinary
organic products like bread or others. It is a sexist phrase because the word 'man' stands for
the meaning of humanity comprising both men and women, which is unfair from my point of
view. Therefore this is a lexically open or formal and decoding idiom because firstly the word
'man' can be replaced with the word 'people' or 'humanity' and the meaning will be preserved
and secondly it is difficult to presume the sense of the idiomatic expression according to the
words of this phrase.

“Queen B” is an expression shortened from the 'Queen Bee', and colloquially refers
to a leader, especially a woman who is in a favored position over her friends or workmates.
This is another decoding idiomatic fixed expression because the words of it cannot be
replaced, otherwise, the meaning will be lost. One more substantive and encoding idiom is
“Straw feminism” which is literally translated as straw feminism, which is used mostly by
men whose goal is to compromise feminist points, trying to make them feel exaggerating and
too extremist.

Last but not least idiomatic expression in the list analyzed by me is following “Hell
hath no fury like a woman scorned” which conveys the idea that a rejected or a betrayed
woman by man can become more ferociously angry and vindictive than any other evil
creature from the deep hell. It is a totally stereotypical meaning about a woman being namely
about them when they are angry, or jealous or envy or even betrayed, which had been created
based on the antique English writer’s tragedies. Also, women are considered more revengeful
than men, because a big part of females is more emotionally opened and explosive.
 2. Conclusion

In conclusion, I can undoubtedly say that language with all its complexity is like a
mirror that reflects society, its values, mentality, beliefs, culture, and not least history.
Linguists and sociolinguists were always interested in the study of "language and gender."
Thus, the phenomenon of sexism is highly spread in English-speaking countries, namely
within the English idioms and proverbs. As we could saw in this paper these kinds of idioms
show the inequality between genders and the unfair and unreasonable discrimination between
males and females, especially the dominance of men over women. Also, we could notice how
difficult is to understand, analyze and explain some idioms, being endowed with all typical
properties like conventionality ‘Queen B’; inflexibility ‘Man up’; figuration ‘To wear the
pants'; proverbiality ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’; informality ‘Man cannot
live by bread alone’ and affect ‘Don’t be a pussy’. To better understand the meaning of some
idioms, namely the decoding one, whose meaning cannot be predicted based on the words
from which the sentence is made, it is useful to know the historical tradition and the context
in which it is used. So, idioms are an indispensable part of the nation's culture and there is a
big challenge for translators or interpreters to find an appropriate equivalent for an idiom to
keep the meaning, that is why the final stage of second-language acquisition is learning and
using idioms in communication. Notwithstanding all these cultural elements, the English
language is a really sexist one, but it is possible to destroy the wall built between men and
women, avoiding the use of these insulting idioms because the social context has changed a
lot. Women have fought for their social equality and nowadays women and men are at the
same level and have the same rights. Even if idioms are inevitable in people’s
communication, at least they can be changed, some words replaced and the discriminative
ones eliminated.
References:

1. Cambridge Dictionary online: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ru/

2. Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms: http://itools.com/tool/cambridge-

international-dictionary-of-idioms
3. NUNBERG, G., A. SAG, and T. WASOW, 1994: “Idioms” Language, vol. 70,
no. 3: 491 – 538
4. MOON, R., 1998: "Fixed Expressions and Idioms in English: A Corpus-Based
Approach", Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ELAINE J. FRANCIS, 2017, Lecture 2: Idioms “Construction Grammar”, West
Lafayette, Indiana, USA: Purdue University