a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle
/ə ˈwʊmən wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈmæn ɪz laɪk ə ˈfɪʃ wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈbaɪˌsɪkəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.89 in modern English
81
Scrabble Score
43
Letters
6
Syllables
17
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "We found this anonymous contribution to International Women's Year on a wall at Forest Lodge: "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.""
- "No matter how hip or how liberated I got to be, I could never really convince my deepest self that a woman without a man, at least when the music started, was like a fish without a bicycle."
- "Women who are ideologically opposed to marriage would go along with Gloria Steinem's^([sic]) commonly quoted maxim: "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle." If, whatever your reasons, you are adamantly not the marrying kind, then it is important for you to make that clear to any man who becomes involved with you."
- "By 1962, well before the so-called "sexual revolution" or even the feminist slogan "a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle," Helen Gurley Brown could write in Sex and the Single Girl, "I think marriage is insurance for the worst years of your life.["]"
- ""A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle," I said. "One of these days you're going to want another bicycle," she said, laughing."
Etymology
A well-known feminist slogan coined in 1970 by the Australian filmmaker, social activist, and writer Irina Dunn (born 1948); according to her recollection, adapted from the phrase “A man needs God like a fish needs a bicycle” which she read in a philosophical text. The original phrase appears to be “A man without faith is like a fish without a bicycle”, coined by Charles S. Harris in 1955 and published in a 1958 article in the Swarthmore Phoenix. The phrase is often erroneously attributed to the American feminist journalist and social political activist Gloria Steinem (born 1934), but she disclaimed this in a letter to Time magazine published on 16 September 2000.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ə ˈwʊmən wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈmæn ɪz laɪk ə ˈfɪʃ wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈbaɪˌsɪkəl/
- British English: /ə ˈwʊmən wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈmæn ɪz laɪk ə ˈfɪʃ wɪðˌaʊt ə ˈbaɪsɪkl̩/