slang terms for "clitoris"

[Dennis R. Preston]

Or the Eric Partridge one, probably worse.

dInIs



>On Jul 22, 2004, at 12:25 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>Subject:      Re: slang terms for "clitoris"
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>--------
>>
>>At 12:01 PM -0400 7/22/04, Page Stephens wrote:
>>>Not exactly clitorus but when I was looking for it online I did find
>>>this
>>>interesting dissertation about the word cunt.
>>>
>>>http://members.lycos.co.uk/mathunt/dissertation.html
>>>
>>>Page Stephens
>>>
>>Well, the commentary has redeeming social value, as we used to say,
>>but I'm not sure Mr. Hunt's expertise as an etymologist does much to
>>inspire confidence:
>>
>>"The prefix 'cu' is one of the oldest word-sounds in recorded
>>language. It is an expression quintessentially associated with
>>femininity, and is the basis of 'cow' ('female animal'), 'queen'
>>('female monarch'), and, of course, 'cunt' ('female genital')."
>>
>>
>>The "prefix 'cu'"?  "One of the oldest word-sounds in recorded
>>language?"  "An expression quintessentially associated with
>>femininity"?  (Not to mention the fact that "cow", via OE cu:,
>>derives by regular Grimm's Law changes from g(w)ou-, while "queen"
>>comes from g(w)en-, as in gyn[ecology], so the "oldest-word sound"
>>wasn't in either of them, nor is it clear what other "expressions
>>quintessentially associated with femininity" trace back to the
>>primordial cu- "sound".)
>>
>>Larry
>
>Perhaps he's merely a follower of the William Safire school of
>etymology.
>
>-Wilson Gray


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages
A-740 Wells Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517) 432-3099
Fax: (517) 432-2736
preston at msu.edu