Yes, "college boy" can be derisive. But the other male-specific term, "college man," is both neutral and commonly used.
Tragic: College co-ed killed in hostage situation.
- Thread starter gturner
- Start date
- Status
Yes, "college boy" can be derisive. But the other male-specific term, "college man," is both neutral and commonly used.
Well, here's a question. Since the term coed comes from opening up formerly all-male or male dominated American universities to women, is "coed" a specific Americanism that would only have entered Canada, Australia, and the UK via osmosis?
I imagine that someone in the US could call someone a "title nine" and Americans would realize that it probably meant a female student athlete, depending on context, but almost no one outside the US would have a clue.
I also had no idea that coed was meant to refer to women only. When I went to university in the early nineties we were always called "students".
I lived in a co-ed dorm for my first 2 years...and that simply described the fact that it was not one of the "women only" or "men only" dorms. So for us, co-ed meant both, not women only.
And what is "title nine"? Totally new to me...
I lived in a co-ed dorm for my first 2 years...and that simply described the fact that it was not one of the "women only" or "men only" dorms. So for us, co-ed meant both, not women only.
And what is "title nine"? Totally new to me...
^ Title nine (always written as Title IX - I was "wordifying" it to make an example) is the government ruling that women and men have to be treated equally in sports by institutions that receive government funding. Prior to the policy, girls in high school generally had only two real options, join the marching band or become a cheerleader. Now if a school has a boys basketball or soccer team, it has to have a girls basketball or soccer team, etc. It gave a huge boost to the competitiveness of American women in international sports, for a while embarrassingly so to some other countries. As the Wiki mentions about its results, "The number of women in high school sports had increased by a factor of nine, while the number of women in college sports had increased by more than 450%."
So by happenstance we didn't start calling female athletes "title nines" but at least in a great many places we did start calling female college students "coeds" (It's in all the dictionaries). Children and younger adults are the main drivers of new language, especially slang. They coin new words and start using them regardless of the "correct" terms, and if it becomes common then everyone else follows suit, which is why even the LA Times has come to use the term "coed" as a handy shorthand term for "female college student."
Oddly, although I lived in coed dorms, only the girls in them were called coeds, but only dorms with both boys and girls were called coed dorms. An all coed dorm was a "girl's dorm". Go figure. The term was probably coined in the first year or two that guys at a formerly all-men's college had to come up with a official-sounding, neutral-sounding way to refer to the "new guys" in skirts. It may have even been started by academics in the university bureaucracy in some published warnings about how to treat the newly arriving "coeds" with respect, etc.
Not all language makes logical sense, which is why Brazilians are classified as Hispanics by the Federal Government while Spaniards are not.
ETA:
Interesting: co-ed etymology
However the link below mentions that Webster's has the first use as 1878, and implies that it might come from Cornell University.
Etymology question
So by happenstance we didn't start calling female athletes "title nines" but at least in a great many places we did start calling female college students "coeds" (It's in all the dictionaries). Children and younger adults are the main drivers of new language, especially slang. They coin new words and start using them regardless of the "correct" terms, and if it becomes common then everyone else follows suit, which is why even the LA Times has come to use the term "coed" as a handy shorthand term for "female college student."
Oddly, although I lived in coed dorms, only the girls in them were called coeds, but only dorms with both boys and girls were called coed dorms. An all coed dorm was a "girl's dorm". Go figure. The term was probably coined in the first year or two that guys at a formerly all-men's college had to come up with a official-sounding, neutral-sounding way to refer to the "new guys" in skirts. It may have even been started by academics in the university bureaucracy in some published warnings about how to treat the newly arriving "coeds" with respect, etc.
Not all language makes logical sense, which is why Brazilians are classified as Hispanics by the Federal Government while Spaniards are not.
ETA:
Interesting: co-ed etymology
However the link below mentions that Webster's has the first use as 1878, and implies that it might come from Cornell University.
Etymology question
Last edited:
It's only the noun -- a co-ed -- that refers to a female. Co-ed used as an adjective describing a school, dorm, etc., does mean that it's for both genders together.
You know, the entire content of this thread is completely unrelated to its title. Maybe the mods should rename it.
It is the "Co-ed definition, etymology, and use" thread.
Or maybe you should stop pushing the issue and let the discussion get back to the original topic. Capiche?
Someone has to speak out in defense of a completely innocent and commonly used word.
First they came for "niggardly", but I didn't speak up because I wasn't miserly.
Then they came for "jungle", but I didn't speak up because I don't live in a rain forest.
Then they came for "coed", but I didn't speak up because I'm not in college.
Then they came for me, but by that time I couldn't tell who the long string of adjectives and nouns was aimed at.
Camille Paglia said, 'My message to the media is: “Wake up!” The silencing of authentic debate among feminists just helps the rise of the far right. When the media get locked in their Northeastern ghetto, and become slaves of the feminist establishment and fanatical special interests, the American audience ends up looking to conservative voices for common sense. As a libertarian Democrat, I protest against this self-defeating tyranny of political correctness.'
So who are you going to go with? The forces of racist genocide and politically correct self-defeating tyranny, or a hot tub full of drunk nekkid coeds? The choice is that stark.
To quote the esteemed Otter of the Delta Tau Chi chapter at Faber College, who would wish himself with us today in this glorious thread, (may he rest in peace - very tragic accident involving a sea monkey and a fifth of vodka) "This calls for a really futile and stupid gesture on somebody's part, and we're just the guys to do it."
First they came for "niggardly", but I didn't speak up because I wasn't miserly.
Then they came for "jungle", but I didn't speak up because I don't live in a rain forest.
Then they came for "coed", but I didn't speak up because I'm not in college.
Then they came for me, but by that time I couldn't tell who the long string of adjectives and nouns was aimed at.
Camille Paglia said, 'My message to the media is: “Wake up!” The silencing of authentic debate among feminists just helps the rise of the far right. When the media get locked in their Northeastern ghetto, and become slaves of the feminist establishment and fanatical special interests, the American audience ends up looking to conservative voices for common sense. As a libertarian Democrat, I protest against this self-defeating tyranny of political correctness.'
So who are you going to go with? The forces of racist genocide and politically correct self-defeating tyranny, or a hot tub full of drunk nekkid coeds? The choice is that stark.
To quote the esteemed Otter of the Delta Tau Chi chapter at Faber College, who would wish himself with us today in this glorious thread, (may he rest in peace - very tragic accident involving a sea monkey and a fifth of vodka) "This calls for a really futile and stupid gesture on somebody's part, and we're just the guys to do it."
does this really seem like the apropriate place for a bizarre rant?
Last edited:
Junxon, it was a totally predictable gturner response to the previous post. 
Well, the death of the woman is technically more important and discussion worthy, but there isn't that much difference in opinion about it beyond "what a terrible incident!".
So discussion sparks around the less important detail where difference of opinion is much greater.
So discussion sparks around the less important detail where difference of opinion is much greater.
Junxon, it was a totally predictable gturner response to the previous post.
Kinda figured that was coming, which just leaves me my totally predictable response.
This thread is closed.
This post was the culmination of a string of increasingly insulting and hyperbolic posts you used to continue the "co-ed" wording issue long after it could have been dropped. You have earned an infraction for trolling. Comments to PM.
- Status