Because the word housewife is hundreds of years old, and middle school isn't. Ov... | Hacker News

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		dublinben on March 12, 2016 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: Why the German language has so many great words Because the word housewife is hundreds of years old, and middle school isn't. Over time, compound nouns drift closer. They start out as two words, are then joined by a hyphen, and then become a single concatenated word.

kazinator on March 12, 2016 | [–]

Etymonline corroborates you; it places the origin of "housewife" in the 13th century.

(You would think there was basically no other kind of wife until well into the Industrial Revolution.)

usrusr on March 12, 2016 | [–]

Which kind of makes sense, since a housewife would not turn into a trailer wife when moving into one.

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