nancy way
- noun
- Slur
:
manera marica (insulto ofensivo)
- She told him to drop his nancy ways and toughen up.
Examples
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His classmates mocked his nancy way when he refused to play football.
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Critics accused him of having a nancy way of speaking and dressing.
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He has a very nancy way of speaking.
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Stop acting in that nancy way!
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Critics accused him of having a nancy way of speaking and dressing.
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His classmates mocked his nancy way of behaving during gym class.
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She told him that his nancy way of reacting to criticism was unnecessary.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A person, often a man, who seems weak, afraid, or easily upset
How Effeminate
Surface Forms
Morphology
nancy + way
The meaning 'an effeminate or overly sensitive manner' is directly compositional from 'nancy' (effeminate) + 'way' (manner), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning. That said, 'nancy' is a low-frequency, slang item and may not be known to many learners, which affects actual recognition but not the morphological transparency.
Etymology
The phrase nancy way comes from using the woman's name Nancy to mock a man who acted in a soft, 'woman-like' way, with way meaning 'the way someone behaves'. So it came to mean 'effeminate' or 'overly sensitive', and it is often used as an insulting word.