there are only two kinds of women, the plain and the coloured
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Women are either modest or flirtatious
Literally: classification of women into two categories
Examples
The old man believed there are only two kinds of women, the plain and the coloured
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “there are only two kinds of women, the plain and the coloured” mean?
Women are either modest or flirtatious Literally: classification of women into two categories
Is “there are only two kinds of women, the plain and the coloured” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.