Chivalry

My youngest daughter has a spelling test this week. As she and I were practicing spelling the words this weekend I was also asking her the meaning of each word.

Everything was going well until we got to one word - chivalry.

She told me her definition of the word by using it in a sentence starting with the pronoun, she.

She. Hmmm.

I told her that the word was usually used to describe males.

'Why?' she asked. 

I had no idea, so I whipped out the Webster's dictionary. Its definition of the word is, "the sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms.'

My daughter then wanted to know why women couldn't be knights which, incidentally, was another spelling word on the list.

'That's just the way it was in those days,' I told her. 'Knights were 'chivalrous' and ladies were 'fair'. Boys did boy's stuff and girls did what, in those days, was considered appropriate for them.'

She then asked me if men today were still chivalrous. 

I told her that some were, in today's world we considered men who were polite, hard working and kind to be chivalrous.

She looked at me for a minute then said, 'we don't call those type of men chivalrous, we call those guys geeks.'

So there you go, according to my eight year old, chivalry is indeed dead. 

I find that sad.

But wait! Is being a 'geek' a good thing these days? Like how some kids use 'bad' to mean 'good'? Anyone know?

Ah well, at least my daughter knows how to spell it. 

Comments

[Angie @ KEEP BELIEVING]

I would say that sadly, your daughter is going to be attracted to "bad boys!" Watch out!

KEEP BELIEVING

[Julianne]

Your daughter sounds like an insightful young woman. Soon enough, she will learn the value of a geek.

[Cindy]

Though not a spelling word, the word of the week here is: surreptitious. Alex is using it a lot now. I think she is being surreptitious about some things herself!

Hopefully geek means fantastic and she'll steer away from the "bad boys" for the sake of Mom's heart!

[Burgh Baby]

I hope chivalry isn't dead, I still kind of like it!

[Christina]

Tell her to go and fond herself a geek then!! (In a bunch of years from now)

[Gina]

That's so funny! Yeah - the bad boy appeal starts young, but eventualy it wears off and we start loving the geeks.

[Lisa]

Exactly. My husband's a geek which means he's great with technology, has a good-paying job, is hard-working, kind, focused, etc. etc. Geeks rule the world!

[Mary Lynn]

That made me seriously laugh out loud. 'Specially since I'm married to a geek--and happy to be!