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BEAU (boh)
A
man who courts a woman
Common clues: Boyfriend; Swain; Belle's
man; Suitor; Gal's sweetheart; Gentleman caller; Steady; Regular
guy; Escort; Flame; Inamorato; Loverboy
Crossword
puzzle frequency:
4 times a year
Frequency
in English language:
25632 / 86800
News: See
Adele and her Beau in Their First Official Appearance
Video:
Ducks
courting
Beau:
A man who is the favored companion, regular escort, or boyfriend
of a woman. The word comes to us from the French word beau
meaning “the
beautiful”. According to The Columbia Guide to Standard
American English, “Today beau
is old fashioned at
best, and probably could be labeled archaic or even obsolescent.”
Courtship
is the traditional dating period before engagement and marriage.
During a courtship, a couple dates to get to know each other and
decide if there will be an engagement. Usually courtship is a
public affair, done in public and with family approval.
It
includes activities such as dating where couples go out together
for a meal, a movie, dance parties, a picnic, shopping or general
"hanging out", along with other forms of activity. Acts
such as meeting on the Internet or virtual dating, chatting
on-line via instant messaging or e-mail, sending text messages,
conversing over the telephone, writing each other letters, and
sending each other flowers, songs, and gifts constitute wooing.
The
average duration of courtship varies considerably throughout the
world. Furthermore, there is vast individual variation between
couples. Courtship may be completely left out in case of arranged
marriages where the couple doesn't meet before the wedding.
In
the United Kingdom, a poll of 3,000 engaged or married couples
resulted in an average duration between first meeting and
accepted proposal of marriage of 2 years and 11 months, but yet
with the women feeling ready to accept at an average of 2 years
and 7 months. Regarding duration between proposal and wedding,
the UK poll above gave an average of 2 years and 3 months.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Courtship".
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