Fishwife
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A fishwife, fish-fag or fishlass is a woman who sells fish.
Often the wives and daughters of fishermen, fishwives were notoriously loud and foul-mouthed, as noted in the expression, To swear like a fishwife. One reason for their outspokenness is that their wares were highly perishable and so lost value if not sold quickly. Fishwives in fishing villages such as Cullercoats and Newhaven were noted for their beauty, hardiness and industry and were celebrated by artists and royalty.
In this context, the word wife means woman rather than married woman. This usage stems from Old English wif (woman) and is cognate with the German Weib and the Dutch Wijf, also meaning "woman" (nowadays rarely used and usually in a pejorative sense).
Famous fishwives
- Dolly Peel – a fishwife of South Shields
- Dolly Pentreath – the last native speaker of Cornish
- Marretje Arents – Dutch fishwife and rebel
- Molly Malone – the subject of an Irish song
- Annie Sandercock – the artist, dancer and celebrated wrestler.
See also
