Learn English – What does the phrase “woman who does” mean

meaningmeaning-in-context

I've first heard the phrase on QI (season 3 episode 6) where Stephen Fry uses it as rhyming slang for "buzz"

Bill: "Woman"?

Stephen: "Woman who does": buzz.

Bill: Buzz.

Phill: "Woman-who-does"?!

Stephen [laughing]: It's all I could think of!

Phill: Oh, oh. So we're doing middle-class Cockney rhyming slang!

I couldn't find it anywhere and wrote it off. But then I heard it again used in the White's Blues by Fascinating Aida. Sadly I couldn't find the lyrics but it seems to refer to a nurse that takes care of the singers infant. The song can be found here.

Am I right in assuming the phrase refers to some sort of housekeeper duties? Also does anyone have any idea where the phrase originates or where it is used? I've never heard it before but it seems to (according to Phill's comment) be tied to (presumably British) middle class society.

Best Answer

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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