# Is there a female word for 'putz'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2024, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581 "2024-10-09T00:53:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/1 "2024-10-09T00:53:02Z")
What’s the female equivalent of ‘putz’? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/2 "2024-10-09T00:58:03Z")
Putzette. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/3 "2024-10-09T01:29:39Z")
Yenta ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/4 "2024-10-09T01:34:23Z")
Yenta is more of of a meddlesome woman, and it’s male variation is kibbitzer. Since puts = penis, the female would be schmundie. (Which, unlike “putz” or “schmuck,” would guarantee a mouthwashing with carbolic soap) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/5 "2024-10-09T01:50:55Z")
Is schmundie used the same way, like the c- word would be? Or mostly literally? Maybe the best is “klafte”? - a “bitch” but only used to refer to an unpleasant woman, same use as the c-word if I’m am understanding correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/6 "2024-10-09T01:57:33Z")
I’ve only heard putz for the male sex organ, or a man with a similar level of intelligence. The male version of bitch was always a momser. A gonif had some scruples, a schnorer some self-respect, but a momser was the lowest. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/7 "2024-10-09T02:21:35Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I’ve only heard putz for the male sex organ, or a man with a similar level of intelligence. Not being Jewish, I think ‘putz’ means an idiot; and ‘schmuck’ means a _proactive_ idiot. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/8 "2024-10-09T03:57:11Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Since puts = penis, the female would be schmundie. I guess Fotze? I wouldn’t say that unless you know what you are are doing. In English(?), or at least Scots, it would be something like “fud” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/9 "2024-10-09T11:08:26Z")
Surely I’m not the only old-timer who remembers when we had a “Putz!” smiley here on the SDMB. (Although I’ve been unable to find an image of it.) > [@why is a putz a wally?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-putz-a-wally/261815): > > Why is this :wally called “wally” in the code to make it? Who is Wally and is he a :wally ? Oh, and is he winking? Do people, or this Wally person, wink when they say putz? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/10 "2024-10-09T13:26:03Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Surely I’m not the only old-timer who remembers when we had a “Putz!” smiley here on the SDMB. I definitely remember it. I used to use it. But the smiley was cornfielded due to… issues with its namesake. Also, the board rules have changed so its utility would be limited. Still, it would be nice to have it back, if only for use in The BBQ Pit. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/11 "2024-10-09T14:14:11Z")
Why would “putz” be gender limited? After all, in English we use gender-origin words for either sex. Example: calling a man a boob is not an issue. (And if you’re were in an all-male English punk rock band in the 80s there’s a certain word that you’d frequently call your bandmates.) ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/12 "2024-10-09T14:23:08Z")
The OED notes that “boob,” an embarrassing mistake or stupid person, predates the use of “boob” as an “informal” term for the female breast and the two meanings have very different etymologies. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/13 "2024-10-09T14:42:14Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Why would “putz” be gender limited? After all, in English we use gender-origin words for either sex. Example: calling a man a boob is not an issue Well, men DO have boobs. Women do not have penises. By definition. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/14 "2024-10-09T14:55:33Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Well, men DO have boobs. [![](https://www.picclickimg.com/f4UAAOSwVmpk6Ly4/Picture-Postcard-Know-Your-Body-Mammaries-Daddaries-Humour.webp) ](https://www.picclickimg.com/f4UAAOSwVmpk6Ly4/Picture-Postcard-Know-Your-Body-Mammaries-Daddaries-Humour.webp) > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Women do not have penises. By definition. And that’s the thing. ‘Putz’ seems to be something you would call a man. It seems strange to me to use it for a woman. (OTOH I see ‘putz’ as ‘fool’, as opposed to ‘dick’, which is how I interpret ‘schmuck’.) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/15 "2024-10-09T15:16:20Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Not being Jewish, I think ‘putz’ means an idiot; and ‘schmuck’ means a _proactive_ idiot. I think I have always seen it the other way 'round. “Schmuck” has seemed to carry a more schlemozzly meaning than “putz” when I hear it used. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/16 "2024-10-09T21:00:07Z")
I know what the female equivalent is, but I’d be a putz to post it. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/17 "2024-10-09T21:44:08Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I guess Fotze? I wouldn’t say that unless you know what you are are doing. I don’t know the word’s status in Yiddish, but please don’t use that word in German, neither for female genitals nor for a female person, heaven help. It has all the connotations of “cunt” in American English and is incredibly vulgar. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-female-word-for-putz/1008581/18 "2024-10-09T21:44:47Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > omen do not have penises. I recall someone saying about this that they do… as many as they want.