# Is "chick" allowed? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 30, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703 "2020-03-30T21:29:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/1 "2020-03-30T21:29:13Z")
I’m a chick. Can I say “chick”? I don’t say it to offend, so can I say it? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/2 "2020-03-30T21:34:34Z")
Thus creating a self-referential Liar’s paradox? 'One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ’ ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/3 "2020-03-30T21:36:24Z")
In my opinion as a chick you can call _yourself_ anything you want. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/4 "2020-03-30T22:01:51Z")
I have no problem with females using the term in real life, where who says it and who it is said to is a personal decision. In my opinion as a male posting on this message board however, I know that it is next to impossible to use words like that without opening up a big can of worms(“If she can use it, how come _I_ can’t use it…and besides, how do I know that person is a female in the first place, huh?”) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/5 "2020-03-30T22:11:49Z")
I just don’t see how it’s an offensive word to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/6 "2020-03-30T22:30:46Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I just don’t see how it’s an offensive word to begin with. It’s belittling, in my (male) opinion, implying at some level someone small and insignificant. Of course it may not always be used with that intent, but that’s the problem with expressions like this – even used innocently they leave a little smear behind. As far as rules are concerned, I don’t have a strong opinion either way. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/7 "2020-03-30T22:38:33Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > It’s belittling, in my (male) opinion, implying at some level someone small and insignificant. Of course it may not always be used with that intent, but that’s the problem with expressions like this – even used innocently they leave a little smear behind. > > As far as rules are concerned, I don’t have a strong opinion either way. Is the make variant, dude, belittling to you to? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/8 "2020-03-30T22:40:46Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Is the make variant, dude, belittling to you to? “Dude” is not a variant of “Chick”. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/9 "2020-03-30T22:48:15Z")
Okay, here’s the context. I started this thread on a device that gets squirrelly about C&P, so I couldn’t link. [Here is the link](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=22219517&postcount=27), and the relevant quote: > [@](#): > > Forgive the bump…What basically handed the case to investigators was Susan Atkins (chick with long black hair in the movie) bragging about having done both murders while in county jail for an unrelated offense. Mostly to her cellmate, who was privately freaked, but kept cool until her release, upon which she told the warden, and the ball started rolling. If not for that, I wonder if it would still be an unsolved mystery. I’m not really worried about _belittling_ a convicted murderer. ETA: Dude != chick? They seem pretty evenly matched to me. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/10 "2020-03-30T22:51:54Z")
I don’t personally have a problem with it _shrug_. But then, I’m tall and grumpy-looking, so getting patronised has never been nearly so much of a problem in my life as for some other fellow-women-folks ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/11 "2020-03-30T22:54:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > “Dude” is not a variant of “Chick”. True, but a side note that “dude” is, if not derogatory, not meant to flatter, Lebowski notwithstanding. Can’t think of men referred to as “chicks”, though occasionally in a book one will be called a “bird” (cf. cat, guy, geezer, fellow, bloke, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/12 "2020-03-30T22:57:25Z")
Dude and chick are hardly similar. Dudes come in all ages (“he’s a mean old dude!”) whereas chicks are by definition young. ETA: I can think of exceptions - “chickflick” and “chicklit” don’t necessarily imply youth, AFAIK. But they do imply a lack of gravitas, which certainly could be seen as demeaning. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/13 "2020-03-30T23:01:50Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I’m not really worried about _belittling_ a convicted murderer. In this case “psycho” is more descriptive than “chick”… ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/14 "2020-03-30T23:01:56Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > “Dude” is not a variant of “Chick”. > [@CairoCarol](#): > > Dude and chick are hardly similar. Dudes come in all ages (“he’s a mean old dude!”) whereas chicks are by definition young. > > ETA: I can think of exceptions - “chickflick” and “chicklit” don’t necessarily imply youth, AFAIK. But they do imply a lack of gravitas, which certainly could be seen as demeaning. Disagree with the above. And Dude certainly implies a lack of gravitas. And Rilchiam used it to refer to a Manson follower. So her context was spot on. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/15 "2020-03-30T23:03:24Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > In this case “psycho” is more descriptive than “chick”… Atkins wasnt a psycho though. She was a hippy chick with deep issues who was drugged and manipulated by a real psycho. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/16 "2020-03-30T23:08:39Z")
Chick: tiny, soft, shy, fluffy, easily squished, insignificant. There is no equivalent word for men. “Dude” is just a casual word for males, it implies nothing much at all except casualness. I remember long ago overhearing two young men referring to my sister–who was leading a Sierra Club snow camping expedition out of the lodge they were staying at – as “you know, that real competent chick”. The sneer was unmistakable. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/17 "2020-03-30T23:25:49Z")
Those bikerchicks look like they can kick my ass. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/18 "2020-03-30T23:28:20Z")
What’s the difference between a garbanzo bean and a chickpea? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/19 "2020-03-30T23:29:04Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Chick: tiny, soft, shy, fluffy, easily squished, insignificant. > > There is no equivalent word for men. “Dude” is just a casual word for males, it implies nothing much at all except casualness. > > I remember long ago overhearing two young men referring to my sister–who was leading a Sierra Club snow camping expedition out of the lodge they were staying at – as “you know, that real competent chick”. The sneer was unmistakable. The word wasn’t the problem. The attitude was. People like that would have the same attitude saying “that real competent woman” and it would likely be apparent in their intonation. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703/20 "2020-03-31T00:12:03Z")
In 1969 two chicks told me off for using the term. So I don’t use it anymore. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-chick-allowed/850703.md?page=2)