I don't have a date but my dictionary says that hussy is from Middle English "huswife".

It says that "strumpet" is also Middle English but connected with OF (Old French?) strupe from L stuprum - dishonor.

Both of my dictionaries just say that "uppity" is colloquial.

I'm pretty sure I can get by with strumpet, but I'm not sure that uppity existed, nor that hussy had acquired its slutty definition, in 1809. Which is too bad, especially WRT uppity. There's no other single word that conveys the same meaning.

Susan, this is a great online etymology dictionary. I didn't check all of the words, but "uppity" is definitely out:

uppity: 1880, originally used by blacks of other blacks felt to be too self-assertive.

The parallel British variant uppish (1678) originally meant "lavish;" the sense of "conceited, arrogant" being first recorded 1734.

So...maybe that's a possibility?

Okay, I lied. Here are the others:

hussy,1530: "mistress of a household, housewife," alt. of M.E. husewif, from huse "house" + wif "wife." Gradually broadened to mean "any woman or girl," and by 1650 was being applied to "a woman or girl who shows casual or improper behavior," and a general derogatory sense had overtaken the word by 19c. "It is common to use housewife in a good, and huswife or hussy in a bad sense." [Johnson]

strumpet: c.1327, of uncertain origin. One theory connects it with L. stuprata, fem. pp. of stuprare "have illicit sexual relations with."

Looks like both of those would be fine.

Thanks, Kristin! I've bookmarked that site for future reference. And "hussy" and "strumpet" stay, but "uppity little baggage" is becoming "shameless little baggage who wouldn't keep to her place."

No worries, Susan!

So now I have another dumb question for the writing hivemind. I'm familiar with screenwriting and novel submission format, but how should I format a magazine submission?

Double-spaced? Single? Left-justified, indented paragraphs or straight justified with extra spaces between each one? I want to make sure this looks completely professional.

Definitely double space...margins? We don't need no stinking, no, actually my betas have fixed them for me every time.

Uppity has always struck me as purely an American colloquialism; I don't think I ever heard it anywhere but in the US.

Strumpet is really, really old; I seem to recall something in Francois Villon that translated later to hussy, but I could be way off.

Aaaaarrrrgh. The Board ate my post.

I was just going to ask about titles. Let me try again.

I decided to aim high and submit to Newsweek's freelance commentary column, "My Turn". I'm psyched about giving this a try, regardless of the outcome. However, their two-part title/blurb format is very specific. Here are some recent actual examples:

1.

My Turn: It Takes an Open Tent and a Leap of Faith

Admitting we can't go it alone feels riskier than ever, but our very survival may depend on it

My Turn: What I Never Learned at 'Mommy and Me'

The world seems to get scarier every day, and, for the first time, I don't know how to comfort my son

My Turn: I Can Do Anything, So How Do I Choose?

With countless options and all the freedom I'll ever need, comes the pressure to find the perfect life

My Turn: What's Really Behind the Fight Over Dover?

The media seem more interested in shocking us than in paying tribute to fallen soldiers like my son

You get the idea. So I brainstormed a whole bunch of titles and came up with a few possibilities. I think my favorite right now is:

My Turn: The Questions Even a Teacher Can't Answer

I had asked my students to reach out to the future, but an untimely death forced me back to the past.

I wanted the word "teacher" in the title if possible, to orient the reader so that the "hallway" in the first line of the actual essay has instant context. I also wanted to make sure the editor didn't read the title and assume it was a typical "student died, I was sad" kind of essay.

What do you think? Is it okay? Would it intrigue you enough to want to read more?

Also, is the word "even" okay in that title, or does it come off as arrogant? I was trying to play off of the stereotype that a teacher knows everything using a kind of gentle irony, since much of the essay deals with how little I actually felt I knew in this situation. I'm very interested in your thoughts, if anyone has time.

In NON-MEME news, Deb, I'm really enjoying the prologue. I read it tonight and thought it was a great read. More specific comments in an email tomorrow.

However, their two-part title/blurb format is very specific.

I like the one you ended up with, but it's not something you need to obsess over - they probably have copyeditors write those, like other headlines. Just give it one that will give the editors the gist of the piece, and expect it to be changed.

And the whole McCoy/ rat husband analogy

See, that's something I wouldn't have gotten as someone who doesn't watch the show. Which is another reason why Deb is right about pop culture references -- even judiciously chosen, there's going to be a certain percentage of your readers for whom it will completely sail over their heads.