terms of endearment (Colorado-style)

[Barbara Need]

>In other reports on this that I've heard on the radio and television
>but can't locate electronically at the moment, President Hoffman
>defended her views by citing Chaucer (she's a medieval historian by
>training), which makes this an interesting usage-based analogue of
>the etymologically fallacy:  "cunt" was used as a term of endearment
>700 years ago, so it's *really* a term of endearment.  (I'm not here
>presupposing either that she's right about its use by Chaucer or
>wrong about its use by football players toward their female fellow
>students now, just noting the tenor of her argument.)

This is being discussed on the Chaucer list, and no, she is not right
about its use by Chaucer.

Barbara