Antedatings for BBC List

[Wilson Gray]

Jon,

That sentence is sheer academic poetry. You rock, dude! ;--)

-Wilson

On Jun 10, 2005, at 11:45 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Antedatings for BBC List
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> Yes, we do have synonyms, but we have no allusively descriptive
> phrases of the sort Michael instances.
>
> JL
>
> Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: Re: Antedatings for BBC List
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> On Jun 10, 2005, at 5:38 PM, Baker, John wrote:
>
>>
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>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: "Baker, John"
>> Subject: Re: FW: Antedatings for BBC List
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>> In more formal contexts, especially in writing, I'd say that
>> the major euphemism for condom historically has been "prophylactic,"
>> but it has largely passed out of use in recent years.
>
> In the days before The Pill, "prophylactic" was at least as common as
> "rubber" among black males. I also occasionally heard "safe" used with
> the meaning "condom." "Trojan" and "Ramses" were the most popular -
> well, the most-often mentioned in locker-room stories, at least -
> brands, but neither name was generalized.
>
> -Wilson Gray
>
>>
>> I'm under the impression that other terms have not really
>> caught on. In the song Little Red Corvette, Prince refers to "horses
>> - Trojans, some of them used." Some people do use Trojans as a
>> generic term for condoms, but I've never heard anyone else refer to
>> them as horses. Sometimes they are called gloves, but that seems to
>> be mainly so people can say "no glove no love." Even "rubbers," the
>> once ubiquitous term, seems to be less prevalent now as people just
>> calmly say "condoms."
>>
>> Did barbers really offer "something for the weekend," or was
>> it just a cultural cliché that they did so?
>>
>> John Baker
>>
>
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