Trophy wife

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A trophy wife is commonly used to describe any wife who is considered a status symbol.

The term trophy wife was coined by Julie Connelly, a senior editor of Fortune magazine, in a cover story in the issue of Aug. 28, 1989[1] and immediately entered the language. Although it often has a pejorative spin, the term originally meant the second (or third) wife of a corporate titan, who was younger, beautiful and—equally important—accomplished in her own right.[2]

The marriage of former Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith to oil magnate, J. Howard Marshall, was widely followed by the U.S. media, as an extreme example,[3] as at the time of their marriage: he was 89 years old and she was 26.

Some sources claim the term was coined earlier (for example the Online Etymology Dictionary cites 1984 [4]) but that seems incorrect. The Oxford English Dictionary confirms Aug 28, 1989 as its first use. [5]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Safire, William. "ON LANGUAGE; Trophy Wife", 1994-05-01. 
  2. ^ Saulny, Susan. "Will Her Face Determine His Fortune?", The New York Times, (2007-07-08). Retrieved on 2007-10-25. 
  3. ^ Roy, Amit. "Padma walks out, but some ‘trophy wives’ have stayed the course", The Telegraph, India (2007-07-04).
  4. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary
  5. ^ Oxford English Dictionary Addition Series 1997 http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50258704/50258704se14?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=trophy+wife&first=1&max_to_show=10&hilite=50258704se14

[edit] External links

  • Alpha males forsake the trophy wife, article in the Sunday Times (UK), stating that "Academics say they have found the first evidence that successful British males increasingly prefer a spouse with a high-powered job to one who stays at home with the children."