Friday 25 December 2015

meaning - What does the phrase "woman who does" mean?

The OED's entry for do, under Phrasal Verbs, has an entry to do for —, whose definition 1b is:




colloq. To attend to; esp. to perform household tasks for, esp. as an employee.




They give (among others) a 1997 citation from the Daily Telegraph:




Mrs Simmons has ‘done for’ Mrs Lynton-Smith for 24 years.




In context, it usually refers to light cleaning and housekeeping tasks. As chasly says, it doesn't seem to include live-in servants.



A woman who does might have been called, in earlier times, a charwoman or daily woman.

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