In my language, the title of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother has been translated as Боевой гимн матери-тигрицы, which translates to "Battle hymn of the mother-tigress". I think Ms Chua meant the word "tiger" as a noun, not as an adjective. So, in this case "mother-tigress" would be right. Is this correct?
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3Both tiger mother and mother tigress are perfectly good English phrases that mean essentially the same thing. In the first, tiger is an attributive noun (so a noun that behaves a little bit like an adjective) and in the second, mother is an attributive noun.– Peter ShorJun 26, 2021 at 20:03
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1 Answer
There are a couple reasons: first and foremost, the term “Tiger Mother” was already in common use, particularly among Chinese-Americans to describe the kind of parenting style that Chua writes about in her book.
Second, is that in English, “Tiger Mother” has Tiger modifying mother and describes a mother with the attributes of a tiger (the term is a bit hyperbolic, intentionally so). “Mother Tigress” on the other hand would be a tigress who is a mother, and would be more likely applied to an actual female tiger than a human being.
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Do you have a reference for 'the term “Tiger Mother” was already in common use, particularly among Chinese-Americans'?– bobbleJun 27, 2021 at 3:35
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@bobble grammarphobia.com/blog/2014/12/tiger-mother.html addresses this. Jun 27, 2021 at 16:01