tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3315861630765119669.post9062435714532916402..comments2024-03-10T10:34:02.181+02:00Comments on The Alliterative Allomorph: The Artist Unleashed: FEISTY? A REFLECTION ON ADJECTIVES AND GENDER—AND HOW WE RESPOND, by Sarah DaleJessica Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10889900730906728317noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3315861630765119669.post-73263502994198298252013-11-13T14:07:37.964+02:002013-11-13T14:07:37.964+02:00Thank you, Alison - yes, I saw that description to...Thank you, Alison - yes, I saw that description too. I think it is an example of a word that has travelled some distance from its roots - at least in some contexts!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04376799267170405918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3315861630765119669.post-12994175003175992732013-11-12T09:00:44.912+02:002013-11-12T09:00:44.912+02:00On a technical note, it seems that feisty comes fr...On a technical note, it seems that feisty comes from feist...<br /><br />feist (fst) also fice (fs)<br />n. Chiefly Southern U.S.<br />A small mongrel dog.<br />[Variant of obsolete fist, short for fisting dog, from Middle English fisting, a blowing, breaking wind, from Old English fsting; see pezd- in Indo-European roots.]<br />Regional Note: Feist, also fice, is one of several regional terms for a small mixed-breed dog. Used throughout the Midland and Southern states, feist connotes a snappy, nervous, belligerent little doghence the derived adjective feisty, meaning "touchy, quarrelsome, or spirited," applicable to animals and to people. Although feist remains a regional word, feisty has now entered standard usage throughout the United States.<br /><br />Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. <br /><br />So although there are connections with fist, maybe the pet analogy is not so far away...Alison Mortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12638794898163576730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3315861630765119669.post-74777526369516367832013-11-07T14:29:29.950+02:002013-11-07T14:29:29.950+02:00Interesting. When I think of the word "feisty...Interesting. When I think of the word "feisty," I think about toddlers, for some reason. I think people are too quick sometimes to get offended on social media. Maybe because it's so impersonal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3315861630765119669.post-15807368326208372382013-11-07T10:27:12.727+02:002013-11-07T10:27:12.727+02:00Great comments. It's an interesting area I thi...Great comments. It's an interesting area I think, and I especially like Kitty's examples from the HR literature. I've found I'm thinking about it quite a lot now (but trying not to be tongue tied by it...!)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04376799267170405918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3315861630765119669.post-44129349453317977472013-11-07T01:07:55.470+02:002013-11-07T01:07:55.470+02:00I wouldn't think feisty is a negative word. I ...I wouldn't think feisty is a negative word. I guess maybe there are words that apply more to one gender. I hear cocky and I think of a dude. Never been offended by one though.Alex J. Cavanaughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09770065693345181702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3315861630765119669.post-49310612244239957702013-11-07T00:14:41.914+02:002013-11-07T00:14:41.914+02:00Huh, I'd actually never given much thought to ...Huh, I'd actually never given much thought to the connotation of "feisty" until reading this post. Now, I can't stop thinking about it and realize that every time I've been called feisty or have dubbed someone feisty, there have been - perhaps unintentionally - levels of negativity :-/<br /><br />And yet, there is a part of me that isn't offended. Because feisty, to me, suggests that I'm riled up about something. Uncomfortable or determined. That's not such a bad thing.Dawn Iushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01546425873531022196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3315861630765119669.post-3948033804973383622013-11-07T00:09:41.240+02:002013-11-07T00:09:41.240+02:00I understand what both you and Phiippa Perry are s...I understand what both you and Phiippa Perry are saying. Since English is a nuanced language, I think the discussion's a good-faith, healthy one. Do I think "feisty" has negative overtones? Yes, of course! I would be insulted if someone described me as such. <br /><br />My husband's in industry. HR literature stresses certain instances: an insecure woman is a man learning the ropes; a feisty woman is a determined man; a chatty woman is a gregarious man; a nosey woman is an interested man . . . and so on. <br /><br />Statistics released today say a woman in Texas, for example, earns 79 cents to a man's dollar. This inequity won't disappear until a man and a woman are equally feisty or affable. I'm all for reaching out -- to crack the glass ceiling!Kittie Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07756250649095903317noreply@blogger.com