Uploaded March 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, the Oxford Languages team and special guests hosted an online panel discussion to explore how and why sexist terms are recorded in the dictionary and what this language reveals about the world around us.
Drawing on real evidence of language use, the panel discussed why the dictionary captures terms such as ‘bitch’ and 'bint'; what these most challenging definitions tell us; and the trends we are witnessing right now around women and language.
To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, the Oxford Languages team and special guests hosted an online panel discussion to explore how and why sexist terms are recorded in the dictionary and what this language reveals about the world around us.
Drawing on real evidence of language use, the panel discussed why the dictionary captures terms such as ‘bitch’ and 'bint'; what these most challenging definitions tell us; and the trends we are witnessing right now around women and language.
