rixatrix

goodkitten Im pretty sure this was my first word I ever saw on Wordnik ..... Ah, the memories.. Jul 7, 2012

avivamagnolia
The crime of speaking her mind is punishable by public shaming. A crime called “Communis
Rixatrix�? (note the Latin feminine is used here as only women can be charged with this crime).
The translation of Communis Rixatrix is “the common scold.�?

According to Jacob’s Law Dictionary, a common scold is a “troublesome and angry woman, who,
by her brawling and wrangling amongst her neighbours, breaks the public peace.�?

The punishment for the speaking of one’s mind was to be publicly ducked, that is, to be placed on
a ‘ducking stool’ and plunged into a nearby body of cold water in the presence of her whole
community. The last time a woman was indicted as a common scold in the United States was in
1971.

A woman named Marion Dunlevy was arrested, fingerprinted, and indicted as a common scold
after engaging in an argument with two of her male neighbours over a parked car. The case was
thrown out but “Communis Rixatrix�? was still on the books in the United States in 1994

~University of Regina Lecture, Psychology of Women Class, Copyright of Shauna Born Jan 18, 2009

avivamagnolia ~a nasty, quarrelsome old woman, usually with a tendency to natter and scold Jan 18, 2009