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is known to all that language and culture are closely related; culture influences and shapes language and language reflects culture. Language serves as a social mirror, reflecting the implicit values, attitudes and prejudices of the society. Studies of proverbs and idioms relating to the sexes not only pinpoint stereotyped images of the sexes in proverbs and idioms but also reveal a high degree of misogyny expressed in them. 2.5.2 Slang As the author quoted the chicken metaphor at the very beginning of this thesis, in English slang, women are compared as food, plant and animal. They seem to be beautiful, but they are semantic puns. Food is a passive substance just waiting there to be eaten. In western country, it is considered a compliment to refer to a girl as a cute tomato, a peach, a dish, a cookie, honey, sugar, or sweetie-pie. By comparison, if a man is called a fruit, his masculinity is being questioned. The words of food used to call women usually have passive and sometimes sexual connotation. For example: Peach: beautiful woman Cherry: spinster Sweet – pie: mistress Tart: coquettish woman Cheese cake: portrayal of shapely female body, esp. in advertising Tomato: beautiful, prostitute Something similar to the fruit metaphor happens with references to plants. For example: Blossom: women Daisy: pretty girl Rose: pretty and lovely girl Shrinking violet: a shy woman Wall flower: girls who sit out dances because of a lack of partners On the contrary, men’s role in the society is active: steadfast and courageous. Seldom are they related to flowers. The only flower word that will insult a man is pansy (effeminate man). Animal metaphors also illustrate the different expectations for males and females. Men are referred to as fox (cunning), buck (playboy) and tiger (fierce or energetic) while women are referred to with such metaphors as kitten, bunny, beaver, bird, chick, and lamb. All these animals are small and weak. Negative metaphors used on women are based on smaller animals, for instance, social butterfly, mousy, catty, and vixen. The feminine terms connote action, but not the same kind of large scale action as the masculine terms. To sum up, the investigations of the linguistic portrayal of women and men in the English language have revealed common sexist practices that are not surprising if one accepts the belief that there is a close relationship between language and social reality. 3. The social roots of sexism in English In the previous chapter, the author has discussed the sexist discrimination phenomena in English. It is apparent that sexism in English language is closely related to the origins of sexism in western society. Mainly, we could trace its social roots in the following aspects. 3.1 Social historical cause In the West, religious language and tradition have often excluded, discriminated against, and negatively defined women. Women in both the Old and the New Testaments of The Holy Bible are largely invisible. If women are ever mentioned in the texts, they are portrayed as the property of a man or men. We may look at an excerpt from the Genesis about how man and woman are created by God: And the LORD GOD said, it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD GOD formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he could call them: and whatsoever Adam cal