Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
coming-out ball
English answer:
debutant ball..debutante ball
Added to glossary by
airmailrpl
Dec 14, 2004 14:25
19 yrs ago
2 viewers *
English term
coming-out ball
English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Could someone explain the meaning of a coming-out ball? Is this the same as a graduation ball or prom night or is there another meaning for that?
Responses
| 5 +10 | debutant ball |
airmailrpl
|
| 4 +4 | ball to celebrate the coming out into society of a girl of good family |
CMJ_Trans (X)
|
| 4 +1 | It's a little od-fashioned, but... |
Richard Benham
|
Responses
+10
1 min
airmailrpl
Brazil
Brazil
Native in English
&
English
Works in field
Brazil
Technical - Fast - good price - accurate
Native in: English (Variant: US) 
, Portuguese (Variant: Brazilian)
Works in: English to Portuguese, Portuguese to English, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
88
Selected
debutant ball
PhotoTalk.net Photography Gallery - Debutant Ball - Powered by ...
Debutant Ball. ... Description: Taken at a Ukrainian Debutant Ball in Whippany NJ. The debutant ball is known as "Newark Deb" for short for all Ukrainians. ...
www.phototalk.net/photos/showphoto.php/ photo/27045/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
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Note added at 2 mins (2004-12-14 14:28:44 GMT)
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correction: debutante ball
Coming out, ready or not - National - www.smh.com.au
... The debutante ball is a relic of British society, and its virtual disappearance in ... fencing in of young women of \'good\' family - good meaning old, established ...
smh.com.au/news/National/ Coming-out-ready-or-not/2004/11/30/1101577489612.html
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Note added at 3 hrs 57 mins (2004-12-14 18:23:15 GMT)
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correction: debutante ball
Coming out, ready or not - National - www.smh.com.au
... The debutante ball is a relic of British society, and its virtual disappearance in ... fencing in of young women of \'good\' family - good meaning old, established ...
smh.com.au/news/National/ Coming-out-ready-or-not/2004/11/30/1101577489612.html
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Note added at 17 hrs 4 mins (2004-12-15 07:30:20 GMT) Post-grading
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Results 1 - 30 of about 923 English pages for \"debutant ball\".
Results 1 - 30 of about 16,600 English pages for \"debutante ball\".
Debutant Ball. ... Description: Taken at a Ukrainian Debutant Ball in Whippany NJ. The debutant ball is known as "Newark Deb" for short for all Ukrainians. ...
www.phototalk.net/photos/showphoto.php/ photo/27045/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
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Note added at 2 mins (2004-12-14 14:28:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
correction: debutante ball
Coming out, ready or not - National - www.smh.com.au
... The debutante ball is a relic of British society, and its virtual disappearance in ... fencing in of young women of \'good\' family - good meaning old, established ...
smh.com.au/news/National/ Coming-out-ready-or-not/2004/11/30/1101577489612.html
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Note added at 3 hrs 57 mins (2004-12-14 18:23:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
correction: debutante ball
Coming out, ready or not - National - www.smh.com.au
... The debutante ball is a relic of British society, and its virtual disappearance in ... fencing in of young women of \'good\' family - good meaning old, established ...
smh.com.au/news/National/ Coming-out-ready-or-not/2004/11/30/1101577489612.html
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Note added at 17 hrs 4 mins (2004-12-15 07:30:20 GMT) Post-grading
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Results 1 - 30 of about 923 English pages for \"debutant ball\".
Results 1 - 30 of about 16,600 English pages for \"debutante ball\".
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you very much for this really exhaustive explanation."
+1
4 mins
Richard Benham
France
France
Native in English
&
English
France
When quality counts
Native in: English 
Works in: German to English, French to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
20
It's a little od-fashioned, but...
In the British upper classes, a girl was said to "come out" when she reached a certain age and was available to be courted (by respectable youngish upper-class gentlemen wishing to marry her, of course). This used to be celebrated at a ball. I suppose it's a similar concept to a "deb ball" in the US, except that those frightful Americans are so unspeakably vulgar in the way they do everything....
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Note added at 6 mins (2004-12-14 14:32:20 GMT)
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Sorry, that\'s \"old-fashioned\".
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Note added at 6 mins (2004-12-14 14:32:20 GMT)
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Sorry, that\'s \"old-fashioned\".
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Kurt Porter
: Richard, I know it's unspeakable vulgar of me, but I think you forgot the little ":)" at the end of your statement! :) :) Probably someone from the current administration.
4 mins
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Who said Americans don't appreciate irony unless it's spelled out to them?
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| neutral |
Nancy Arrowsmith
: The old-fashioned is correct, but Americans do tend to be a tad touchy at the moment - something to do with the current administration.
31 mins
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Well, Nancy, I think a closer analysis will reveal that I was making fun of our British cousins....
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| neutral |
CMJ_Trans (X)
: all family links refuted!
45 mins
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Huh??
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| neutral |
Refugio
: So nice to find a community of tetchiness. ;~}
2 hrs
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Thanks, Ruth.
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| neutral |
airmailrpl
: Just like the "British upper classes" wanting to play with the "debs balls"..definitely "a little od-fashioned"..thought it was a freudian slip
14 hrs
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I am not sure I even want to understand that remark.//OK, so I made a typo and the Pommy aristocracy is weird...I think we all knew that.
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| agree |
Tony M
: Top hole, old chap! Spot on, don't y'know!
245 days
|
+4
9 mins
ball to celebrate the coming out into society of a girl of good family
An the 1800s and, to a certain extent, into the 1900s, a girl would "come out" into society when she reached marriageable age. It was a "caste" thing. Only those of the highest classes came out. There was even a thing called, if I remember rightly, Queen Charlotte's Ball, where "coming out" also meant being officially presented to a member of the Royal Family (UK). People would talk about whether girls were "out" or not and, until their fathers had forked out a small fortune for a ball to honour the event, they were in a form of "purdah"!
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Note added at 2004-12-14 15:38:22 (GMT)
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I was right about Charlotte!
The debutante season and \"coming out\" has its roots in the 18th century when around 1780 the King, George III, held a ball for his wife’s birthday.
The ball is known as the Queen Charlotte\'s Ball and it was proposed that the well bred and prettiest girls should attend to be presented at court to the Queen, in order that they could meet a suitable marriage partner, usually the brothers of the debs and known as the \"debs delights\".
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Note added at 2004-12-14 15:38:22 (GMT)
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I was right about Charlotte!
The debutante season and \"coming out\" has its roots in the 18th century when around 1780 the King, George III, held a ball for his wife’s birthday.
The ball is known as the Queen Charlotte\'s Ball and it was proposed that the well bred and prettiest girls should attend to be presented at court to the Queen, in order that they could meet a suitable marriage partner, usually the brothers of the debs and known as the \"debs delights\".
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Richard Benham
: Yes, this is essentially what I was getting at... I think there were mass comings out and individual ones too, depending on just how rich Pater was....
8 mins
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| agree |
MJ Barber
: This is exactly it. And it did go on into the 1900s - just read the Mitford books!
39 mins
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| agree |
RHELLER
: currently rare but differs from graduation/prom because its only purpose is to announce to society that this female is "ready for marriage"/can be courted (no longer a young girl/ not yet a motherly matron)
2 hrs
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| agree |
Java Cafe
3 hrs
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