The stink/The stank

[Wilson Gray]

On Feb 7, 2005, at 5:35 AM, neil wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       neil <neil at TYPOG.CO.UK>
> Subject:      Re: The stink/The stank
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> on 4/2/05 11:17 pm, Wilson Gray at wilson.gray at RCN.COM wrote:
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: The stink/The stank
>>
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>> In addition to its other meanings, I know it as a synonym of "cunt,"
>> which, though occasionally used, doesn't have a lot of traction
>> amongst
>> the bruz and cuz, for some random reason.
>>
>> -Wilson
>>
> From which we get 'play stink-finger', presumably.

I make the same presumption. FWIW, the standard black pronunciation is
"STANK-fang-a." Wherever possible, the phonetic representations of
slang terms are made to conform to the phonetic rules of Southern
English. (There's even a jazz tune whose title is a pun based on this
custom: "D-Natural Blues," i.e. "[(I got) dI naeC@] blues," as opposed
to its literal meaning as the title of a tune in the key of D-natural.)
Once upon  a time, I thought that this term was a universal of American
guy-talk or that its meaning would be immediately transparent   among
guys who'd never heard it before. I've since discovered that it's
totally unknown on the white-guy street and, even though I've always
used the standard pronunciation when talking to them.

>
> Conversely, there is a porn video series featuring simultaneous
> vaginal and
> anal penetration titled 'One in the Pink, One in the Stink'.

Uh, I'm not conversant with that cinematic genre, Neil. ;-)

-Wilson Gray

>
> -Neil Crawford
>
>
>
>> On Feb 4, 2005, at 2:23 AM, Douglas Bigham wrote:
>>
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>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Douglas Bigham <TlhovwI at AOL.COM>
>>> Subject:      Re: The stink/The stank
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>>> Double-entendre?  No.  I can't even think of one, in fact.  It's
>>> definitely a
>>> single entendre.
>>>
>>> -doug
>>>
>>> In a message dated 1/21/2005 8:52:59 AM Central Standard Time,
>>> wilson.gray at RCN.COM writes:
>>> Is there a double-entendre in there for you, doug? For me there is.
>>>
>>> -Wilson
>>>
>>> On Jan 21, 2005, at 2:02 AM, Douglas Bigham wrote:
>>>
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>>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>> Poster:       Douglas Bigham <TlhovwI at AOL.COM>
>>>> Subject:      Re: The stink/The stank
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>>>> Anecdote Alert: "Stank" has been my body-odor noun of choice at
>>>> least
>>>> since
>>>> high school.
>>>>
>>>> -doug
>>>>
>>>> -dsb
>>>> Douglas S. Bigham
>>>> Department of Linguistics
>>>> University of Texas - Austin
>>>> http://hometown.aol.com/capn002/myhomepage/index.html
>>>>
>>>
>>> -dsb
>>> Douglas S. Bigham
>>> Department of Linguistics
>>> University of Texas - Austin
>>> http://hometown.aol.com/capn002/myhomepage/index.html
>>>
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