Curmudgeon

[Amy Z]

Rita brainstormed:

> Beldame? Grandam? Biddy? To my ears, 'beldame' sounds evil 
and 'biddy'
> sounds weak and foolish.

And "grandam" and "biddy" sound old.  Men can be curmudgeons starting 
at, what would you say, late-40's-ish?  Younger if they're 
sufficiently gnarled.  We need a word that's applicable to middle-
aged women, so that they don't have to wait for gray hair before they 
ascend to curmudgeonhood.

Amy, thinking that "curmudgeon" does pretty well, really, and women 
should just use it, with all the dignity and affection it carries