Here's the thing...
Everytime I reread the thread, "wench" is really jumping out at me. While it may have had a proper use to refer to servants pre-1362, the current connotations of the word for a post-1362 reader are a little disconcerting.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by littlemanpoet
wench
c.1290 wenche "girl or young woman," shortened from wenchel "child" (12c.), from O.E. wencel, probably related to wancol "unsteady, fickle, weak," and cognate with O.N. vakr "child, weak person," O.H.G. wanchal "fickle." The word degenerated through being used in ref. to servant girls, and by 1362 was being used in a sense of "woman of loose morals, mistress." The verb meaning "to associate with common women" is from 1599.
"The wenche is nat dead, but slepith." [Wyclif, Matt. ix.24, c.1380]
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Also, I'm wondering about the original connotation of the word (which , of course, I can't personally attest to, not having been around in the 1300s
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Connections to being fickle aren't quite complimentary, and I just have to wonder if the connotation of the word was ever particularly good, especially considering the meaning of loose morals that it took on between 1290 and 1362 - not a particularly long period of time.
*shrugs* I'm no linguist, but I think I would personally prefer serving girl to wench.
Sorry to stir things up and run, but I'm going to be away for the next few days. See you by Tuesday at the latest.
