fishwife
Loud female vendor
A fishwife is a woman who sells fish, historically hawking her wares loudly in streets or markets.
The term survives mainly in its figurative sense: a loud, coarse, or foul-mouthed woman.
To shriek like a fishwife or curse like a fishwife evokes someone vulgar and unrestrained.
The insult carries class contempt—respectable women didn't shout in public.
Ill-tempered woman, or insectivore
- termagantHarsh, quarrelsome woman
- viragoIll-tempered, domineering woman
- harridanIll-tempered older woman
- battle-axHafted cutting weapon
harpy · nag · scold · tartar · vixen · spitfire · dragon · fury
Small silvery Atlantic fish
- codCold-water food fish
- smokedExposed to wood fumes
- saltedTreated with sodium chloride
- guttingRemoving internal organs
filleting · barrel · wharf · dockside · maritime · netting · Victorian · Elizabethan
Enclosed compartment or delay
- seafoodMarine creatures as cuisine
- freshNewly made, not stale
- catchSeize or snag
- haggleDispute price persistently
bargain · scales · gutting · filleting · ice · prices · customers · shrimp
shrew
Ill-tempered woman, or insectivore
- termagantHarsh, quarrelsome woman
- viragoIll-tempered, domineering woman
- harridanIll-tempered older woman
battle-ax · harpy · nag · scold · tartar · vixen · spitfire · dragon · fury · quarrelsome
herring
Small silvery Atlantic fish
gutting · filleting · barrel · wharf · dockside · maritime · netting · Victorian · Elizabethan · harbor
stall
Enclosed compartment or delay
haggle · bargain · scales · gutting · filleting · ice · prices · customers · shrimp · crab
nag
Pester repeatedly
rebuke · upbraid · tirade · rant · rail · screech · shriek · bellow · tongue-lashing · berating
bawdy
Humorously indecent
earthy · rude · brash · blunt · gruff · boorish · tactless · impolite · salty · rough
- gender stereotypesboys will be boys, pink for girls, blue for boys, man up, strong men
- old insultsknave, varlet, scoundrel, rogue, blackguard
- fish marketseafood counter, fresh catch, catch of the day, wholesale, retail
- social ranksking, queen, emperor, empress, noble
fishwifelady
Courteous term for woman
gentlewoman · wallflower · shrinking violet · mouse · diplomat
fishwifearistocrat
Person of noble birth
noblewoman · grande dame · duchess · socialite · debutante
fishwifepeacemaker
Conflict resolution agent
diplomat · gentle soul · pacifist · doormat · saint