# Where did the term "Chick" referring to girls come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2000, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-chick-referring-to-girls-come-from/40135 "2000-11-07T16:35:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wildest\_Bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-chick-referring-to-girls-come-from/40135/1 "2000-11-07T16:35:40Z")
The reason I ask is because I have started a thread to see if girls mind being called chicks and I thought the history on the term would be beneficial. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-chick-referring-to-girls-come-from/40135/2 "2000-11-07T16:46:19Z")
An old girlfriend once told me, “Women are called ‘chicks’ because of the worms they pick up.” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-chick-referring-to-girls-come-from/40135/3 "2000-11-07T16:59:53Z")
{sigh} “Chick” comes from “chicken.” See, in the barnyard, one studly rooster “services” a multitude of chickens. One man who has sex with a variety of young airline stewardesses would be a reflection of this relationship in the human sphere. This is why many women dislike the term, as it semantically reduces them to faceless sex-objects. ---
**Author:** ![Wildest\_Bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-chick-referring-to-girls-come-from/40135/4 "2000-11-07T17:18:58Z")
Thanks Ukulele, That helps alot even though I don’t use it that way. But along that same line of logic better not refer to women as doe’s either. ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-chick-referring-to-girls-come-from/40135/5 "2000-11-07T17:32:45Z")
I always assumed it was from the Spanish “chica” or “chicita,” but I’m just speculating. ---
**Author:** ![RainbowDragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@RainbowDragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RainbowDragon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-chick-referring-to-girls-come-from/40135/6 "2000-11-07T19:09:36Z")
I have a feeling the American slang term “chick” derives from the British slang term “bird”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-chick-referring-to-girls-come-from/40135/7 "2000-11-07T20:33:33Z")
Another plausible etymology: `Chick’ has been used as a term of endearment for children since the middle ages (ala. Partridge). It certainly isn’t the only word to become a general term for women through infantalization (e.g., babe, girl, doll, kitten). For the purposes of discussing the use of the term, I think the etymological evidence is stacked against it. You’ll probably want to stick to “dame”. ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-chick-referring-to-girls-come-from/40135/8 "2000-11-07T22:00:47Z")
In the back of my mind, I always thought it was related to the word “chic” (meaning “elegant” or “fashionable”) although I have to confess I’ve not given it much thought. ---
**Author:** ![Wrath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee7513/32.png) [@Wrath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrath)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-chick-referring-to-girls-come-from/40135/9 "2000-11-07T22:34:39Z")
I thought broads didn’t like to be called chicks. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2000, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-chick-referring-to-girls-come-from/40135/10 "2000-11-07T23:47:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wrath \* > \*\*I thought broads didn’t like to be called chicks. \*\* ::slap slap:: 🙂 I bitched at **Aaron Burr’s Bullet** over this a couple months ago. He started a thread in IMHO (I think) asking where he could “meet chicks”. The word itself isn’t always obnoxious, but used in that kind of question, it can’t be anything _but_ obnoxious. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-chick-referring-to-girls-come-from/40135/11 "2000-11-09T00:37:07Z")
To add to what Johnny Angel provided– chick was used to refer to males also in the 1800’s in the US(see _Lighter_). It seems to have taken on a strictly female usage in this century.