We recently tried to help a correspondent puzzle out why she might have associated (incorrectly, as it turns out) the word maven with being female-specific. We offered plenty of speculation but had no firm explanation for her assumption. Soon after that program aired, we received an email from a different correspondent with the note that he was (and we quote) "totally shocked to find out 'maven' doesn't specify a female!" (来源：专业英语学习网站 http://www.EnglishCN.com)

While we have no further advice to offer about the gender-specificity of maven—our official position is that we throw up our hands—we can offer some insight into why bluestocking is female-specific.

Bluestocking names a woman who has (or who pretends to have) intellectual interests or literary tastes. The way the story goes, back in 18th century London, one Benjamin Stillingfleet (a learned botanist, translator, and poet) was invited to attend a meeting of a literary club that had been established by society ladies seeking edification. Stillingfleet demurred, since he didn't own the black silk stockings considered de rigeur at formal evening events, but was told by his hostess to come anyway and simply wear his daytime clothing. His blue worsted stockings caught on as a trend; they also caught the attention of salon-detractors, who applied the name derisively to such gatherings.