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reer woman for euphemism. Lady, which originally referring to women of prestige in the age of chivalry, has come to suggest a sense of helplessness, implying that she cannot do things for herself or control her own destiny. Therefore, it comes down from flattery to derogation, while lord or gentlemen is still reserved as a title for deities and certain Englishmen. Girl, the word itself, has a long history of specialization and detraction. Originally it meant “a child of either sex”, then it was specialized to mean “a female child”. Later it acquired the meaning of “a serving girl or maid servant”, “a prostitute” and “a mistress”. Today the term girl has improved, referring to a young woman, typically one who has not yet reached puberty. But when an adult woman is referred to as girl, there is the connotation that the person is immature or worse, not responsible and serious. Too frequently women are referred to as ladies or as girls, but men are referred as men, not gentlemen or boys. These counterparts referring to male and female originally were of the same meaning. However, as semantics developed, many female words became depreciative terms, or even related to “sex”. The difference may be explained as the different positions that men and women hold in society. [9] 2.5 Idiomatic phrases 2.5.1 Proverbs and idioms Idiomatic phrases, to some extent, are the essence of society and culture. Some of them are inherited from older period of the language, and after many years of development, they reflect not only the history, but also social values. In this part, proverbs and idioms in English will be put into discussion. The character of woman in proverbs and idioms is often stereotyped. They portray women as “idle chatterboxes” (i.e. women are gossipy), as “weak”, “jealous”, “stupid”, “possessive” and as “concerned with physical beauty” or “trivial things”. It implies that the society holds contempt attitude to women. By examining proverbs, we can see the deep – rooted sexism concepts in society. (i) Women are troublemakers and vicious. Many proverbs harm women by describing them as vicious people. For example: (9) No war without a woman. (10) No devil is so bad as she-devil. (11) Women are the devil’s nets. Those proverbs derogate women as worth nothing. As the saying goes “A bad women is worse than a bad man.” Women are highly discriminated against. (ii) Women are greedy. (12) Women want nothing but husbands, and when they have them they want everything. (13) A nice wife and a back door rob the house. (14) Dear bought and far-fetched are dainties for ladies. In these proverbs, women are portrayed as greedy and seek for pleasure. (iii) Women are gossipy. (15) Words are women, deeds are man. (16) Three women and a goose make a market. (17) Husbands are in heaven whose wives scold not. (18) Women will say anything. Women are described as always poking their noses into other’s business and talking endlessly. (iv) Women are slow – witted. In the past, women are thought as having no wisdom and ideas. For instances: (19) Long hair and short wit. (20) A woman’s advice is never to sock. (21) When an ass climbs a ladder, we may find wisdom in women. (v) Women are capricious: (22) Women, wind and fortune are ever changing. (23) A woman’s mind and winter wind change off. The above descriptions of the linguistic stereotyping of the sexes are just the “tips of the iceberg” of idioms. As