biddy
photo credit: "006-pinkpledge-1-004" by Thainee Manjana (CC-BY-2.0) Definition: (noun) 1. old, irritating woman 2. young, attractive woman
Example: Cathy’s party was over when the old biddy who lived next door called the police at midnight.
Quote:
“Oh, great, an eighty-year-old, grouchy, pretentious...smokin', hot biddy!”
This quote shows both sides of this week’s word. Medical resident J.D. imagines he’s been assigned to take care of an annoying old woman until he sees her and realizes that she’s young and sexy.
Technically speaking, biddy is a contronym—a word that has two opposite meanings. Standard English has a few of these. For example, renting a car can mean that you pay to use one or that you get paid because someone else uses yours.
In slang, words like ill, sick, bad, and nasty can mean great or terrible, depending on the context. And the slang word of two weeks ago, while not exactly a contronym, is close. T-Pain sang about being sprung (infatuated) and therefore trapped and unable to leave his cruel girlfriend. But sprung can also mean freed, especially from prison.
A. C. Kemp | November 11, 2005
