Thread: Married, single, divorced

IMHO, незамужная is the unmarried woman who wishes to get married, холостячка is a maverick who can’t care less about marriage; it’s a defiant attitude to what is usually expected from a woman. Another usefull word cтарая дева is a spinster of about forty or older who still (c)overtly hopes to marry sb.

PS What a fashionable fancy bonnet, made out of cock’s plumage, btw!

Originally Posted by diogen_

PS What a fashionable fancy bonnet, made out of cock’s plumage, btw!

Hmmmm... I was going to correct this to "rooster's plumage" -- but in the context, perhaps "cock's plumage" is more appropriate!

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Hmmmm... I was going to correct this to "rooster's plumage" -- but in the context, perhaps "cock's plumage" is more appropriate!

Throbert, thanks for the correction. But I'm bewildered. What's wrong with the "cock's plumage"? I googled the phrase and found the following picture:
Cocks Plumage Royalty-free Image | Getty Images | 148440842
In what aspect the plumages distinct from each other?

Originally Posted by diogen_

Throbert, thanks for the correction. But I'm bewildered. What's wrong with the "cock's plumage"?

In modern English, the word "cock" practically always!!!! means х*й, not петух!!

In fact, I would advise Russians against translating петух as "cock" unless it's in a historic or literary quotation ("Peter, thou shalt deny me three times before the cock crows") or if it occurs in certain proverbial or technical senses ("cock-and-bull story" or "to cock a gun").

BTW, the English word "rooster" (петух) was not commonly used until perhaps the 18th century -- before that, "cock" did not have the obscene slang meaning referring to the penis. But as the slang sense "cock as in х*й " became increasingly popular, people became embarrassed about saying "cock as in петух", and the once-rare word "rooster" became the normal term.

P.S. The etymological development of cock is quite well known -- at least compared with the relatively obscure history of f*ck -- and we can list the senses from oldest to newest:

1. "cock" = петух -- ancient, going back at least to proto-Germanic
2. = кран (для провода) -- 15th century
3. = молоток на старомодном ружье -- 16th century
4. = х*й -- probably by mid-17th century

So, "sense 4" probably developed as a rude joke based on the three older meanings. ("It has a red head, it stands up in the early morning, sometimes water comes out of it, and sometimes it shoots like a cannon...")

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

In modern English, the word "cock" practically always!!!! means х*й, not петух!!

Throbert, thanks a lot! I really wasn’t aware to what extent my original joke was off-color. "Голубая мечта" sounds pretty good in its “standard” meaning more often than not.. Голубая мечта
Beware of a “new” meaning of петух though.
Петух
Ответы@Mail.Ru: вы все знаете что такое на жаргоне петух?

But it occurred to me that in this context, "cock's plumage" would work as a joke to describe the fancy hat worn by the разведенная кошка (i.e., making a joke that she had symbolically cut off her husband's wang...)

In other cases, however, "rooster's plumage" avoids any possibility of an unwanted double entendre.

P.S. Perhaps an approximate Russian equivalent might be saying "лазурные мечтания" instead of the more traditional phrase "голубые мечтания"?