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Hen night

Last weekend, a good friend of mine and her fiance got married in a beautiful ceremony in South Lake Tahoe.

In classic tradition, on Friday night, she had a bachelorette party or what Brits would call a “hen night.”

To protect the innocent, I'm going with this generic shot from "Bridesmaids."

I’ve been searching online to find something about the origins of “hen night” and could only come up with a few theories – but the most popular has been that it originated in Scotland where women are termed “hens.”

I actually prefer the British term. Bachelorette party just has a sordid connotation, don’t you think? It just sounds like it would have to involve a bow-tied Chippendale leaping out of a cake or worse. I also think that if American guys can have a stag party, then we should also be given a term with a female animal equivalent. But what? Doe party, perhaps? Sow night? Bitch ‘do?

Yeah, I’ll pass and stick with a free-range hen. Cluck. Cluck.

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