Debutante comes from a French word, spelled almost identically, meaning ‘female beginner’. It originally applied to a young woman of an aristocratic or upper-class family who has reached maturity and as a new adult comes out into society.
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The term meant the woman was old enough to marry, and the purpose of the ball was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families.
Fortunately, in Australia this is not the case. Debutante Balls are usually organized by high schools, church groups, etc for young women, usually 15 to 18 years old. Custom also has it they choose their male partners for the Deb Ball.
Aligning to a degree with the original concept, the young women do step out into society, but marriage does not come into the equation.
Boorowa has its own Debutante Ball this Saturday night with three beautiful Debs and their equally dashing partners ‘stepping out’.
WITS
Reg was a single guy living at home with his widowed father and working in the family business. He knew he would inherit a fortune when his sickly father died.
Reg wanted two things, to learn how to invest his inheritance and to find a wife to share his fortune.
One evening at an investment seminar he met the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, her beauty took his breath away.
“I may look just an ordinary man,” he said to her, “but in just a few years, my father will die and I’ll inherit twenty million dollars.”
Impressed, the woman obtained his business card.
Two weeks later she became his stepmother proving women are so much better at estate planning than men.
WITS
A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine, ie house is feminine ‘la casa’, pencil masculine ‘el lapiz’. A student asked, “What gender is computer?”
Instead of giving the answer, the class was split into two groups, male and female, and asked whether computer should be a masculine or feminine noun. They were asked to give four reasons for their answer.
The male group decided computer should be female gender (la computador) because:
- No one could understand their internal logic.
- The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.
- Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval.
- As soon as you make a commitment to one you find yourself paying half your pay cheque on accessories for it.
The female group concluded the computer should be masculine (el computador) because:
- In order to do anything with them you have to turn them on.
- They have a lot of data but still can’t think for themselves.
- They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they are the problem.
- As soon as you commit to one, you realise that if you had waited a little longer, you could have got a better model.
Shock horror, or of course appropriately, the female group won – el computador. You be the judge.
WITS
Mother’s Day Sunday, a special day for that special lady. Have a good look around Boorowa shops, but take in the Hospital Auxiliary ‘Mother’s Day Stall’ operating tomorrow, Friday, from 9.00am in Bertie’s Barber Shop. They invite you to “Come along and find something special for your mum”.