Female Genitalia

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>In her stage show and book, _The Vagina Monologues_, Eve Ensler gives a list
>of 35 examples of terms for the female genitalia, many of which I am not
>familiar with.  I would appreciate information on any of these terms from
>anyone who is familiar with them.
>
>1. Which of the following are "little girl words"--terms that no
>self-respecting female over nine years of age would use except with a little
>girl--and which are not?
>         "powderbox"             "poopelu"                "poochi"
>"poopi"         "peepe"                "poonani"               "pal"
>         "piche"                         "toadie"                    "dee
>dee"            "nishi"           "monkey box"      "cooter"
>"labbe"
>         "sugar bowl"              "cooter"               "Gladys Siegelman"
>"nappy dugout"  "horsespot"             "mongo"
>         "pajama"                    "fannyboo"               "mushmellow"
>"ghoulie"      "tamale"               "totita"                        "connie"
>         "Mimi"                          "split knish"             "schmende"
>
>2. How is the first vowel of "nishi" pronounced? [ai], [i], or [I]?
>
>3. She includes "VA" (in caps).  Is that an initialism ([vi-e])?
>
>4. She also has "dignity".  I have encountered that twice, in both instances
>from an African-American woman reporting her grandmother's instructions for
>bathing: "Wash as far as possible, and then wash possible."  Does it occur
>in any other context?
>
>5. She also has "coochie snorcher".  Neither of these appears in the 1992
>ed. of the _Amer. Heritage Dictionary_, although I have "coochie" from
>college-age informants.  Is "snorcher" a word, or is it an euphemising
>nonsense term?
>
>I was going to suggest that you reply to me personally, but, given the
>prurience of this list, you may want to reply to everyone.  In either case,
>thanks.

This is not prurience, this is linguistics.

Maybe some day I'll get up the nerve to ask my young daughter about this.
Meanwhile ...

I've never heard of any of them, although "connie" and "fannyboo" and
"poonani" are transparent. "Tamale" recalls a familiar "taco" simile.
"Siegelman" sounds like rhyming slang. "Nappy dugout" presumably refers to
the "feminine napkin". "Nishi" might be related to "knish", but I note for
what it's worth that "nishi" /niSi/ = "private" (in the military sense) in
Japanese. I think "VA" must be an initialism; "pajama" is a little girl's
version of the same word, I think.

-- Doug Wilson