lace-curtain

[ leys-kur-tn ]

adjective

, Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive.

1. characteristic of or aspiring to the standards and attributes of the middle class:

   Her latest novel traces the rise of a lace-curtain Irish family in Boston.

Example Sentences

In 2022, Swift referenced the 19th century poet while receiving the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade Award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International: “If my lyrics sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great-grandmother while sewing a lace curtain, that’s me writing in the Quill genre.”

From Salon

“If my lyrics sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great-grandmother while sewing a lace curtain, that’s me writing in the Quill genre.”

From Los Angeles Times

In September, Swift added a few more phrases to the lexicon when she accepted the songwriter-artist of the decade prize at the Nashville Songwriter Awards, and revealed that she has three categories of lyricism in her mind: Quill Lyrics, which means if her song sounds like “a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great-grandmother while sewing a lace curtain”; Fountain Pen Lyrics, meaning “a modern storyline or references with a poetic twist”; and Glitter Gel Pen Lyrics, which are “frivolous, carefree, bouncy, syncopated perfectly to the beat.”

From Washington Post

Inspired by Romeo and Juliet, Love Story is a "quill pen" song where "the words and phrasings are antiquated" like "a letter written by Emily Dickinson's great grandmother while sewing a lace curtain".

From BBC

“I stopped if I saw a house with not too much paint on it, with old-fashioned latticework, maybe a stained-glass window in the door or a lace curtain. To me that house just hollered, ‘Old records!

From Washington Post

Related Words

• noble