öffentliches Mädchen

12:06 Dec 15, 2011 

thankx for the background, and your posting may have crossed with my private mail. As I value your knowledge of period and culture, I can only nod. Tip to the hat.

11:58 Dec 15, 2011 

The problem with both of your terms (the latter sounds a bit late, 1920s springs to mind, though that is just a gut feeling) is that they could be applied to any woman with slightly less than 'respectable' behaviour. They go far beyond prostitution and would have included flirting, being seen in public unchaperoned, etc. Women could lose their reputations for the slightest of reasons. The GER term is far more direct.

11:47 Dec 15, 2011 

if you look down at my first comment you will find two phrases (hussy and fast girl) which are indeed recorded in my period dics of the late 19th and early 20th century); perhaps they have been overlooked as I do not enter terms as answers any more. Regards.

09:37 Dec 15, 2011 

I've tried thesaureses obviously, but couldn't find anything that quite caught the tone. I thought perhaps somebody here might know a suitable period phrase that was escaping me.

21:43 Dec 14, 2011 

checking with the OED (except 4. Supplement), SOED, Websters up to 2003 and online, American Heritage, and latest Collins the term "working girl" in this sense is not on record for any period prior to the 1980. Therefore is is not suitable for the feel of a turn-of-the-century text. Besides, IMO "öffentliches Mädchen" is not as innocent as it sounds, rather one might call it euphemistic or even putting a gloss on the truth, beschönigen. Its meaning and function would have been quite clear to the man on the street in the 1910s.

20:15 Dec 14, 2011 

is the absolute vagueness - a perfect euphemism! Anything indicating reputation or even hinting at it is a dilution. Whatever you choose, it must be - in my opinion of course - quite harmless in itself. "Working girl" is my favourite.

20:09 Dec 14, 2011 

I'm torn between the 'working girl' (nice to hang on to the 'Mädchen/girl') and the girl/woman of ill repute. It really depends on the register of the text as such.

16:20 Dec 14, 2011 

This is not really a translation question, because you and we know exactly what it means. We could post any number of answers, but the choice is ultimately down to you. Why don't you try thesaurus.com?

16:07 Dec 14, 2011 

terms such as "fast girl" or "hussy" will give period results on the net.