Ways in which Microsoft Word Annoys Me: Probably, Alas, a Lengthy, Ongoing Series
Posted 28 February 2008 in Writing by Catriona
Microsoft Word wishes me to change “working woman” to “workingwoman”.
Since the thesis deals with female professionalism, this was a request that came up with a fair degree of regularity before I got annoyed and “ignored all”. The combination of adjective and noun expresses my critical focus better than a single word would, anyway.
But is “workingwoman” actually a real word? My trusty OED is in my office at work, and there’s certainly no trace in the OED Australian Dictionary. I could, of course, access the OED online through library catalogue, but see my previous post for that debacle.
Dictionary.com suggests “workingwoman” is a real word, meaning “a woman who is regularly employed” or “a woman who works for wages” (really? How surprising!) but I’m not sure I trust dictionary.com on this one.
“Workwoman” I can see, as a counterpart to “workman”—not, to my mind, a necessary counterpart, but that’s another post.
But “workingwoman”? This one’s baffling me.
Share your thoughts [2]
1
Lisa wrote at Mar 3, 02:58 am
Hi Trina,
The only context in which I can remember the word “workingwoman” was many, many years ago as a euphemism among older generations for a prostitute. Of course I only heard it so can’t tell you whether the words were separated. I also don’t know just how wide-spread this particular meaning of the term was.
2
Catriona wrote at Mar 3, 03:31 am
I’ve heard the term “working girl” as a euphemism for prostitute, so “working woman” doesn’t surprise me (and is slightly less creepy then “working girl”, anyway.
But as one word? That is odd. It seems such a clumsy way of doing it, to my mind.