Reader question:

　　In this quote – "Pierce has always been interested in women dressed as men, because, she says, that's how she grew up - a tomboy swinging from trees." – what does "tomboy" mean?

　　My comments:

　　Tom is a boy. Tomboy is a girl – a girl who behaves like a boy. As explained in the example above, she wears boy's clothes and swings from trees.

　　Tom is a boy's name, hence the term – tomboy is a girl who acts like a Tom, or Tommy, or Thomas. According to Longman, tomboy is "a girl who likes playing the same games as boys". Wordnet.princeton.edu gives an equally curt answer: "a girl who behaves in a boyish manner". A search through Wikipedia, however, the most reliable unreliable sources for reference ever created, finds that the term has been around a long time, actually dating back to the 1500s. At first, according to Wiki, tomboy was a boy, a "rude, boisterous boy," as a matter of fact. Nowadays girls have this term completely for themselves – probably for lack of a better word. No, don't get me wrong. Tomboy is not a bad word – girls don't have to be particularly rude, either, to acquire that distinction.

　　The English language is explanatory. Usually when you see a new word in a sentence, you'll also see it "explained" in some similar descriptions in the following sentences, giving you a chance to correlate them and get their meaning. Whenever a young woman is described as a tomboy, her tomboyish behavior is usually explained right away. For example: "My mother grew up a tomboy. She had short frizzy hair and an expression that would leave you running home to your momma."

　　Or: I grew up a tomboy. I'm 17 now, and I wear girly stuff, but I still have my tomboyish traits. I like spending lots of time outside.

　　Finally, this from the Toronto Star:

　　Cameron Diaz claims to have always been a tomboy. That's how she explains her tendency to go braless, in case you were dying to know. Britney Spears, Charlize Theron, Hilary Swank, Michelle Pfeiffer, Keri Russell and Keira Knightley all say they have, or had, a whole lot of tomboy in them.

　　It's chic in these post-feminist times for beautiful female stars to admit to a certain "maleness." Ordinary women, too, now often wear a tomboy childhood, once tinged with varying degrees of anxiety (why can I not find it within myself to be a dainty princess? will my daughter grow up to be a lesbian?) like a badge of honour.

　　But the word "tomboy," with its basis in "essentialist" thinking about gender – girls are like this, boys are like that, and those who cross the line aren't quite normal – doesn't sit well with some people.

　　In a recent Oscar-related cover spread in The New York Times Magazine, writer Lynn Hirschberg described the now 21-year-old cover girl Ellen Page, star of the hit movie Juno, as "a tomboy – her on-screen persona is sharp, clear-eyed, determined and self-consciously original."

　　The following week, the magazine ran a letter from Barbara Schechter, director of the graduate program in child development at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., commenting on the writer's use of the term.

　　"It is unfortunate that we have no other word available to describe this strong, independent young woman than to refer to her as a tomboy. This continues to convey to girls that growing up clear-eyed and courageous is being like a boy."

　　Interestingly, tomboy was first used in the mid-16th century for males, denoting "a rude, boisterous, or forward boy," according to the Oxford English Dictionary. By then, because Thomas had been a popular name for centuries, "Tom" was a long-established moniker for the common man (hence tomfoolery).

　　By 1579, tomboy had somehow switched genders and referred, according to the OED, to "a bold or immodest woman." The word came into its current meaning – "a girl who behaves like a spirited or boisterous boy"– by 1592.

　　In a telephone interview, Schechter said the tomboy issue isn't as hot as it was a couple of decades ago "because in some ways we've made a lot of progress, and there are a lot more roles and opportunities available to girls.

　　"In fact, the article in the Times attests to that; it really was suggesting that there were these new female role models that are being embodied in these films. And therefore I think it was all the more disappointing that they referred to Ellen Page as a tomboy, because in a way it was sort of retro... I thought that maybe we'd moved beyond that."

　　Schechter notes that when she told a friend about her letter to the Times, the friend dismissed Schechter's concerns, arguing that "tomboy" is just a "manner of speaking." But Schechter counters that academics – especially at a very liberal campus like Sarah Lawrence – can be out of touch with what's going on in the real world, where children "get very invested in the categories of gender as being dualistic and dichotomous, and children get very invested in boys not being like girls and girls not being like boys."

　　"I have a relative who's a psychiatrist, a woman, and she recently referred to her seven-year-old daughter as a tomboy, and I was shocked, and I really called her on it at another time. Because I think especially telling a girl that she's a tomboy suggests that there's something wrong with that behaviour and that she will need to outgrow it... if (she) wants to be a normal girl."

　　...

　　- Why 'tomboy' remains a loaded word, March 2, 2008.

　　1.curt

　　adj.简短的，草率的

　　参考例句：

　　He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。

　　He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

　　2.boisterous

　　adj.喧闹的，欢闹的

　　参考例句：

　　I don't condescend to boisterous displays of it.我并不屈就于它热热闹闹的外表。

　　The children tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play.孩子们经常是先静静地聚集在一起，不一会就开始吵吵嚷嚷戏耍开了。

　　3.chic

　　n./adj.别致(的)，时髦(的)，讲究的

　　参考例句：

　　She bought a chic little hat.她买了一顶别致的小帽子。

　　The chic restaurant is patronized by many celebrities.这家时髦的饭店常有名人光顾。

　　4.tinged

　　v.（使）发叮叮声( ting的过去式和过去分词 )

　　参考例句：

　　memories tinged with sadness 略带悲伤的往事

　　white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣

　　5.gender

　　n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

　　参考例句：

　　French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。

　　Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

　　6.determined

　　adj.坚定的；有决心的

　　参考例句：

　　I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。

　　He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

　　7.courageous

　　adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

　　参考例句：

　　We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。

　　He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

　　8.Oxford

　　n.牛津（英国城市）

　　参考例句：

　　At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。

　　This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

　　9.genders

　　n.性某些语言的（阳性、阴性和中性，不同的性有不同的词尾等）( gender的名词复数 )；性别；某些语言的（名词、代词和形容词）性的区分

　　参考例句：

　　There are three genders in German: masculine, feminine and neuter. 德语中有叁性：阳性、阴性和中性。 来自辞典例句

　　Japan was fourth among the genders of foreign students. 日本在二十个留美学生输送地中列第四位。 来自互联网

　　10.attests

　　v.证明( attest的第三人称单数 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓

　　参考例句：

　　The child's good health attests his mother's care. 这孩子健康的身体证实他母亲照料周到。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

　　The boy's good health attests to his mother's care. 这个男孩的良好健康就是他母亲细心照顾的明证。 来自辞典例句

　　11.embodied

　　v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含

　　参考例句：

　　a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth 代表黑人青年希望的政治家

　　The heroic deeds of him embodied the glorious tradition of the troops. 他的英雄事迹体现了军队的光荣传统。 来自《简明英汉词典》

　　12.psychiatrist

　　n.精神病专家；精神病医师

　　参考例句：

　　He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。

　　The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

　　13.outgrow

　　vt.长大得使…不再适用；成长得不再要

　　参考例句：

　　The little girl will outgrow her fear of pet animals.小女孩慢慢长大后就不会在怕宠物了。

　　Children who walk in their sleep usually outgrow the habit.梦游的孩子通常在长大后这个习惯自然消失。

　　14.remains

　　n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

　　参考例句：

　　He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。

　　The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。