Spanish and French words for pussy

[Natalie Maynor]

James Clapp wrote:
>I take it from your final example that if the object of "baiser" as a
>transitive verb is a body part (or perhaps the ground or a trophy?) then baiser
>means "kiss"; but if the object is an entire person, then it means "fuck."

I'm pretty sure that's the case.  Suddenly I'm reminded of a funny incident
when a student in a skit in front of a class was trying to say "baisser la
radio" (lower the radio) but was pronouncing it "baiser."  The reaction of
the teacher, who was almost literally ROtFL, made it clear that one does
not use the verb "baiser" with "radio" as the object.  That leads me to
believe that the number of "innocent" objects may be quite limited --
specific parts of the body, maybe ground or trophy -- and that the default
meaning is "fuck": when the object is a whole person, when the object is
something one doesn't ordinarily kiss (like a radio), or when the verb is
intransitive.

But what am I doing posing as an expert on colloquial French??  Surely
there's somebody here who knows much more about this than I do.

>This seems clear enough, but I think I won't test the distinction by inviting a
>French truck driver who has offended my sense of driving etiquette to kiss my
>ass.

Probably this is a wise decision.
   --Natalie (maynor at ra.msstate.edu)