The Liberal senator channelled Arnold Schwarzenegger, calling Opposition Leader Bill Shorten an "economic girly man", a phrase coined by the former California governor to describe budget pessimists.
But senior Labor frontbencher Penny Wong questioned the use of "girly" as an insult.
"If we use `girl' as an insult, what are we telling our sons and our daughters about being a girl? You're saying it is somehow less competent, weak," Senator Wong told Sky News on Sunday.
"Imagine if we used any racial term in the way it was used, I think we would all be outraged."
But Senator Cormann's colleague Christopher Pyne laughed off the remarks.
"I think Mathias Cormann used a colourful phrase, and I have to say it's unusual for Mathias to use a colourful phrase," the education minister told Sky News.
"I don't think it is the most important issue floating past us today."
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