Old-fashioned term for unmarried women over 26 goes viral
![Unmarried women over 26 are too old to be spinsters. [Photo: Getty]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/i.wyNNkIwIDzKc4JgNB6tw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD02Nzc-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/5a985bb501cd827788a2b36e14084061)
Female, unmarried and over 26? Bad news – you’re too old to be a spinster.
A woman has taken to Twitter after discovering a hilarious term for unmarried women in the latter half of their twenties.
Writer Sophia Benoit shared her amusement with her followers after discovering the word “Thornback” was an old term for women in this age category.
The tweet has since gone viral, racking up thousands of retweets and likes.
Omg I just found out that spinster used to be reserved for women 23-26 and that after you turned 26 if you were unmarried you became a…. THORNBACK. How fucking great is that name!?
— Sophia Benoit (@1followernodad) March 13, 2019
Far from taking offence at the outdated term, many had an absolute field day with the idea they were “thornbacks”.
CAN’T WAIT TO BE A THORNBACK pic.twitter.com/1D7ESphHmR
— Maggie (@Miieruu) March 13, 2019
GOD, Thornback sounds metal AF. I LOVE IT.
🎸🤘🏼⚡️THORNBACK 4 LYFE ⚡️🤘🏼🎸
— ❄️ Michelle ❄️ (@Songbird_7_) March 13, 2019
and it’s the Spinsters vs the Thornbacks in today’s epic tournament… no, wait, they’ve joined forces. THEY ARE UNSTOPPABLE!
— Dr Tansy Rayner Roberts (@tansyrr) March 13, 2019
Some thought the term sounded like something out of fantasy fiction.
It sounds like a scene from a mash-up of the first 20 minutes of “Wonder Woman”, “Planet of the Apes”, and “300”.
So yes I’d watch it.
— A. Mackay (@ABM_paints) March 13, 2019
It sound like the name of a fucking DRAGON. HELL YEAH.
— Rachel Klein (@racheleklein) March 13, 2019
“Ah, yes, beautiful creature Harry. That one’s an Unmarried Thornback. What? Blimey, I meant Norweigian Ridgeback. To be perfectly honest aye was looking at ‘er owner.”
— Nackles (@Nacklescreatr) March 13, 2019
Others wondered if there was another term for women far past their late twenties.
And what if you’re many (well, more than a few) years past becoming a “thornback”? Asking for a friend.
— Adrienne (@AdrienneMeadEsq) March 13, 2019
Holy shit, is this true? We get to evolve, Pokemon style?
…I feel like we need to be some kind of prickly spider-ish pokemon, with names like Spinster and Thornback.
Oh my God, is the next stage Black Widow? SpiderGwen? Tarantulala?
— Fly (@flockofwords) March 13, 2019
Given that the most common age for women to get married is now 33, it’s likely there will be many, many identifying as “Thornbacks” in the mean time. Good thing the internet seems to be owning it.
