FEMININE VOCABULARY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 9977, 13 April 1894, Page 2

FEMININE VOCABULARY.

As a term of endearment " Old cat " is one of the most expressive perhaps in the feminine vocabulary, says the Sydney Morning Herald, when addressed by one woman to another. And the meeting held the other day at the Brisbane Town Hall to promote the causo of female sufferage, and at which this epithet was freely thrown, may be regarded as well up to date. Those who think that the introduction of our fail* sisters into a share in the management of politics will unnerve public life may take heart of grace from such an incident, aud feel assured that, neither in piquancy nor force of diction, will debates suffer any deterioration. There is a concentrated energy in " old cat," as well as a fulness of expression, that fits it admirably for use as a factor in political discussion. There is a suggestion of the sharp claw concealed within tho velvet paw, the soft fur, the insinuating Avalk, and gentle purring of the domestic cat, coupled with the sudden blow and vicious spit when a dog or other animal comes fooling round, that gives|to the term a singular aptness of expression for the feminine conception of feminine belligerency. But we have very little hesitation in thinking that a meeting in which the term was freely passed from one lady to another, events came perilously near a stage at which fur and feathers fly. It appears that the men — about a hundedof them — who had found themselves in the heated atmosphere of this meeting iii the Brisbane Town Hall, were all put out of the building, so that there should be no interference of "the tyrant" with the freedom of debate. As it was but a preliminary canter in political life that was well. But the ladies must accustom themselves, and the men too, to carrying on their discussions in common; for, though " old cat" is something of an innovation, it will only be a pleasant change to the various phrases of male characterisation, and "liar" and "scoundrel" will form rather a picturesque blend with " old cat" in reports of parliamentary proceedings.