It is not so surprising that they like it - they are like that sort of woman - very flirtatious. And even by women loose morals (not high-class ladies). Madeira is a drink more usually drunk by women. You would expect them to drink a man's drink like brandy. It is a term of endearment here.Įdit posted same time as sarries, obviously. It is a pun - It calls someone a tart, and then has a picture of a pastry. But you can see it can't have been a really insulting word, or you wouldn't use it like this so soon aftewards. It does not apply directly to your text, because it is more modern, and your writer definitely did not mean it as a term of endearment. This is an image to show that it is not a 'bad word', necessarily. Probably all women were treated one of two types - either tarts or Madonnas (the Virgin Mary one, not the singer!) - the type sleep with, or the type you marry. I don't imagine the speaker here was particularly feminist-minded. Here, it just seems to mean a flirtatious type of woman. It can range from explicitly calling someone a prostitute (but that is old, feels very Shakespearean), to just saying they like to flirt (not a 'nice' respectable lady), to just being something you call any woman, colloquially. Sex on their minds (presumably this is a boy's-only boarding school - I imagine young hormomes got a bit overheated) 'Tart' is not complimentary, but depending on the context it can be a very mild word.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |