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e. Precise Color Terms
Men and women are different in using their verbal skills and controlling different aspects of English speech and vocabulary. Lakoff 1975 state:
Women make far more precise discriminations in naming colors than do men; words like beige, ecru, aquamarine, lavender, and so on are
remarkable in a woman’s active vocabulary, but absent from that of most men p. 8.
According to Lakoff 1975, the color discrimination happens since women are not expected to make decisions on important matters like men in society, they are
relegated the noncrucial decision as a sop. Deciding whether to name a color “lavender” or “mauve” is one such sop. Therefore, women have richer vocabulary
than men in areas that are their specialty.
f. Intensifiers
According to Lakoff 1975, women’s language is powerless; women’s position that is inferior to men’s is reflected in heavy use of intensifying adverbs.
Olson 2000 states that intensifiers act as a boosting device in language. The term intensifier describes the linguistic expression of amplifying the meaning of a
descriptive word, often an adjective or adverb, within an utterance. Intensifier is used to emphasize another word that comes after it. The examples of intensifiers
include: so, very, and totally.
g. Hypercorrect Grammar
Lakoff 1975 states that hypercorrect grammar is the consistent use of standard verb forms. Women are expected to be polite in society. They use standard
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forms when they are speaking to reflect politeness. Women may use more standard forms as a way of retaining their societal value, as “society tends to expect ‘better’
behavior from women” Holmes, 1998, p. 172.
h. Superpolite Forms
Superpolite also reflects social politeness. It is described by Lakoff 1975 as “leaving decisions open, not imposing your mind, or views, or claims, on anyone
else” p. 56. While it may be a polite command, it does not need obedience overtly, but it suggests something to be done as a favor to the speaker. For the example, If
you don’t mind, Please may you…, That really means a lot .
i. Avoidance of Strong Swear Words
Eckert 2003 says that “swearing is kind of interjection that can express extreme statements.” Swearing is considered as an expression of very strong
emotion. In society, women are expected to be good. They are not allowed to speak roughly. Therefore, women tend to avoid using strong wear words. The words such
as my dear, goodness, and my fudge are often found in women’s language as stated by Lakoff 1975.
j. Emphatic Stress
Stress can refer to emphatic stress when it is placed on a particular word in phrase to clarify or emphasis something. Emphatic stress is a feature that is usually
used by women. When women apply this feature, they show a bit emotion through posture and tone of voice. This feature occurs when women want to strengthen an
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