Pink geography (was: hungarian and pink currency)

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>At 8:52 PM +0100 9/25/00, Lynne Murphy wrote:
>>>BUM BAG, pg. 53, col. 3.  Americans call it "fanny pack."
>>
>>And the Brits are quite horrified/amused that the Americans call it that.
>
>Not to mention the fact that we (as a rule) don't know why Cleland
>would have written his novel about "Fanny Hill" (either that, or we
>think we know but we get the geography wrong).

Compare "front bottom" or "front bum" (non-US euphemism) for the female
genitals, in Thorne's slang dictionary for example.

Spears' dictionary for example lists "fancy-bit" = "female genitals" (along
with "fancy woman" = "prostitute"), from the 18th century, perhaps a
precursor or cousin of "fanny" in the British sense?

-- Doug Wilson