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Pregnant but not married

Posted by ESC on May 31, 2009 at 12:28

In Reply to: Pregnant but not married posted by Franziska on May 31, 2009 at 09:54:

: I'm currently translating a play from Spanish into English. At one point the author uses an idiomatic phrase that refers to a young woman who is pregnant but not married, is there such a phrase or saying in English? I'd appreciate any suggestions!

When I was growing up in West Virginia in the 1960s, we didn't have terms for that because nobody discussed it. In fact, my mother got very upset with me because I used the word "pregnant" when explaining to a friend why my cousin's wife was staying with us. And my euphemism references are strangely silent on the subject. There are several that come to mind regarding the couple and the child. But I can't think of any specifically referring to the mother-to-be. Just that, in my region, they used to say an pregnant unmarried woman was "in trouble" or "got caught." Regards the couple, there was one that I have read in a phrase book: the couple forgot to say grace before they ate. Another: a Kentucky man was explaining why he married when he was 15 and his wife 13: "...we were running across a pasture field and she fell down. I fell down, too. We didn't get up quick enough." "Wolfpen Notebooks: A Record of Appalachian Life" by James Still (University Press of Kentucky, 1991), Page 64.

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