The Blue Stockings Society was an informal women’s social and educational movement in England in the mid-18th century, emphasising education and mutual cooperation. … The term came to refer to the informal quality of the gatherings and the emphasis on conversation over fashion.
Where did the term bluestocking originate?
The term probably originated when one of the ladies, Mrs.Vesey, invited the learned Benjamin Stillingfleet to one of her parties; he declined because he lacked appropriate dress, whereupon she told him to come “in his blue stockings”—the ordinary worsted stockings he was wearing at the time.
When was the term bluestocking used?
The term bluestocking was first used in the 18th century to refer to a group of English women who decided they’d rather have intellectual conversations with educated guests than sit around playing cards and chatting.
How do you use bluestocking in a sentence?
1. The bluestocking pair dispensed eccentricity and cheer. 2. He complained that my titles were vague and pretentious, and smelt of the blue-stocking.
What does the slang term blue stocking mean?
: a woman having intellectual or literary interests.
When was blue stockings first performed?
1896 Blue Stockings is the first full-length play by Jessica Swale. It is set at Girton College, Cambridge in 1896. Its title refers to bluestockings, a derogatory term for female intellectuals.
Is yeoman’s service an idiom sentence?
Service that is good enough, but in no way extravagant. This rickety wooden ladder has done me yeoman’s service over the years, but now it’s time to upgrade.
What is the meaning of the idiom broken reed?
A weak or unreliable support, as in I’d counted on her to help, but she turned out to be a broken reed. The idea behind this idiom, first recorded about 1593, was already present in a mid-15th-century translation of a Latin tract, “Trust not nor lean not upon a windy reed.”
What is the meaning of yeoman’s service?
US. : very good, hard, and valuable work that someone does especially to support a cause, to help a team, etc. They’ve done yeoman’s work in raising money for the organization.
What is a boffin in British usage?
chiefly British. : a scientific expert especially : one involved in technological research.
What is a hoyden mean?
: a girl or woman of saucy, boisterous, or carefree behavior.
Who was Mrs Elizabeth Welsh?
Elizabeth Welsh was the sixth Mistress of the College and the first Girtonian to be Mistress. In total she would spend 31 years at the College – 4 as a student; 9 as Resident Lecturer in Classics, 18 as Mistress.
What does look down upon mean?
To look down upon is defined as to consider someone or something lesser or inferior in some way.
What is the meaning of the idiom black sheep?
In the English language, black sheep is an idiom used to describe a member of a group, different from the rest, especially within a family, who does not fit in.
What is the meaning of the idiom to face the music?
To accept unpleasant consequences: “After several years of cheating his employer, the embezzler finally had to face the music.”
What does a reed symbolize in the Bible?
Paul Johnson, in his History of the Jews (1987) 88, states that the reed was used by the Jews as a symbol of justice (cf. a reed as the beam of scales). It was also associated with power, authority and legitimacy.
What does the idiom by the skin of your teeth mean?
In modern times, by the skin of my teeth is used to describe a situation from which one has barely managed to escape or achieve something.
What is a weak reed?
a weak or ineffectual person, especially one on whose support it is foolish to rely. This expression refers to Isaiah 36:6, in which the Assyrian general taunts King Hezekiah of Jerusalem about the latter’s supposed ally, the Egyptian pharaoh: ‘Lo, thou trusteth in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt’.
Do a yeoman’s job?
: What does the phrase doing a yeoman’s job mean. : Thank you to anyone who may answer. Doing a good job all round; working hard and competently. The phrase is associated with work that doesn’t require specialized skills and can be done well by tackling the task industriously.
What is the origin of yeoman’s work?
Yeoman /ˈjoʊmən/ was first documented in mid-14th-century England, referring to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. Yeomanry was the name applied to groups of freeborn commoners engaged as household guards, or raised as an army during times of war.
What is the idiom of call it a day?
If you call it a day, you decide to stop what you are doing because you are tired of it or because it is not successful. Faced with mounting debts, the decision to call it a day was inevitable. Synonyms: stop, finish, cease, pack up [informal] More Synonyms of call it a day.
Graduated from ENSAT (national agronomic school of Toulouse) in plant sciences in 2018, I pursued a CIFRE doctorate under contract with Sun’Agri and INRAE in Avignon between 2019 and 2022. My thesis aimed to study dynamic agrivoltaic systems, in my case in arboriculture. I love to write and share science related Stuff Here on my Website. I am currently continuing at Sun’Agri as an R&D engineer.