Who's diddling and how?

Tue Jul 15 17:03:42 UTC 2008

It appears inconclusive to me (three other versions below). There is
commentary on the Web saying that the RCC's prohibition on
masturbation derives from this.  BB

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New International Version: 8 Then Judah said to Onan, "Lie with your
brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to
produce offspring for your brother." 9 But Onan knew that the
offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's
wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing
offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the LORD's
sight; so he put him to death also.
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Contemporary English Version: 8So Judah told Onan, "It's your duty to
marry Tamar and have a child for your brother." [a] 9Onan knew the
child would not be his,[b] and when he had sex with Tamar, he made
sure that she would not get pregnant. 10The LORD wasn't pleased with
Onan and took his life too.
-----
New International Reader's Version: 8 Then Judah said to Onan, "Make
love to your brother's wife. After all, you are her brother-in-law. So
carry out your duty to her. Produce children for your brother."
  9 But Onan knew that the children wouldn't belong to him. So every
time he made love to his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the
ground. He did it so he wouldn't produce children for his brother.

10 What he did was evil in the Lord's eyes. So the Lord put him to
death also.

On Jul 15, 2008, at 9:48 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Who's diddling and how?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Yes, there is. There's no need to assume, on the basis of what the
> Bible clumsily describes, that he jacked off. There's no exposition of
> the method that Onan used to accomplish the spilling of his seed _upon
> the ground_ , note: *not* _upon the earth_. He may very well have
> simply pulled out, given that the Bible specifically states that the
> spilling didn't take place until *after* Onan had "gone unto" his
> brother's wife. Or maybe he used a lambskin and then tossed it. What?
> Like, his brother's wife lay there and watched, as he stroked one off?
>
> It ain't necessarily so.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 12:01 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net>
> wrote:
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>> Subject:      Re: Who's diddling and how?
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I received Ben's message after I'd sent mine.  No more need to answer
>> my question.
>>
>> Joel
>>
>> At 7/15/2008 11:50 AM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>>> Genesis 38:8-9 (KJV;
>>> http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis%2038:8-38:10;&version=9;)
>>>
>>> And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry
>>> her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
>>>
>>> And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass,
>>> when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the
>>> ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
>>>
>>> BB
>>>
>>> On Jul 15, 2008, at 8:38 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Benjamin Barrett supplies the quotation:
>>>>
>>>> "_He diddled on the ground_ and, at long last, looked up and
>>>> said: let
>>>> him who has not sinned be the first to cast the first stone at the
>>>> sinner."
>>>>
>>>> Whoa! My initial interpretation was that he lay down on the
>>>> ground and
>>>> then fucked it [i.e, the ground, the soil, the dirt, the very
>>>> earth]!
>>>> That's a heavy picture to put into someone's mind. I was wondering
>>>> whether there was grass or weeds, bare earth, sand, whether he had
>>>> skinned his dork (in the skinned-knee sense, not the skinned-back
>>>> sense), etc.
>>>>
>>>> -Wilson
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Jul 12, 2008 at 5:15 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com
>>>>> wrote:
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>>>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>>> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
>>>>> Subject:      Who's diddling and how?
>>>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>> Just as a forewarning, there are some pretty X-rated citations
>>>>> below.
>>>>>
>>>>> The AHD4's definitions of diddle include:
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. to jerk up and down or back and forth
>>>>> 2. vulgar slang
>>>>> a. to have intercourse with (a woman)
>>>>> b. to practice masturbation upon
>>>>>
>>>>> My concern is  the relevance of "(a woman)". Generally, I take
>>>>> this
>>>>> sort of definition to be a remnant of older heterocentrist
>>>>> definitions
>>>>> and intended to mean "to play the active part in sexual
>>>>> intercourse",
>>>>> but it seems that not even that is adequate:
>>>>>
>>>>> -----
>>>>> The Ball of Kirriemuir
>>>>> (http://www.turoks.net/Bordello/TheBallOfKirriemuir.htm
>>>>>>> ) provides 17 examples of diddle:
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. The village glazier he was there, with his prick of glass
>>>>> He diddled 'em in their cunnys, and also in the ass!
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. the ladies wouldna have 'em, so they diddled dogs and trees!
>>>>>
>>>>> 2. The old fishmonger he was there, a dirty stinkin sod
>>>>> He never got a rise that night, so he diddled 'em with a cod!
>>>>>
>>>>> 3. Clan MacChluarain they were there, chasin' round the Keep
>>>>> And every single man of them buggerin' a sheep!
>>>>>
>>>>> (insert name) had a gerbil, he diddled it very well
>>>>> He didn't wrap it in duct tape: he blew it all to hell!
>>>>>
>>>>> 4. (Insert name), she was there, and she is past eighteen;
>>>>> She is a rapier fighter, so she diddled Florentine!
>>>>>
>>>>> 5. Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean,
>>>>> So she did the Fubba-Wubbas, while he diddled a Marine...!
>>>>> -----
>>>>>
>>>>> I think this covers just about every male/female/animal pairing
>>>>> possibility, demonstrating that diddle is not limited to just a
>>>>> man
>>>>> having intercourse with a woman. And Wiktionary agrees, saying "to
>>>>> have sex with".
>>>>>
>>>>> -----
>>>>> Also, in Letters to Penthouse X (http://tinyurl.com/6feo6h, page
>>>>> 131,
>>>>>>> 2000), there's "cockhead...as she diddled her clit with it."
>>>>>>> While
>>>>> this appears more related to definition 1 than 2, there are
>>>>> these as
>>>>> well, which hint to the development of definitions 2 from 1:
>>>>>
>>>>> 6. She diddled herself [with a baster].
>>>>> (The Sperm in Amy Lowe's Frig, by Roberta Price,
>>>>> http://www.prisoners.com/amysperm.html)
>>>>>
>>>>> 7. As she diddled herself with a candle,
>>>>> (Street of the thousand assholes,
>>>>> http://www.odps.org/glossword/index.php?a=term&d=5&t=143)
>>>>> ------
>>>>>
>>>>> I have trouble understanding what definition 2b actually means.
>>>>> Does
>>>>> this mean to masturbate and ejaculate on someone? Do you "diddle
>>>>> on/
>>>>> upon" someone? I think this is what Danny Glover's character did
>>>>> in
>>>>> _The Color Purple_ instead of sex, though Whoopi Goldberg's
>>>>> character
>>>>> called it "his business".
>>>>>
>>>>> Wiktionary says "to masturbate (especially of women)".
>>>>>
>>>>> Google has only a few hits for "he diddled on". Of the three
>>>>> citations
>>>>> that seem relevant, only one is available:
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. He diddled on the ground and, at long last, looked up and said:
>>>>> let
>>>>> him who has not sinned be the first to cast the first stone at the
>>>>> sinner.
>>>>> I assume he's talking about Onan here, though in the text, Jesus
>>>>> is
>>>>> the antecedent of "he". (What Should be Africans Attitude to
>>>>> Americans
>>>>> War on Terror by Ozodi Thomas Osuji, 19 Oct 2006 http://tinyurl.com/5jxlbq)
>>>>>
>>>>> Okay, no more diddling around. Back to work!
>>>>> BB
>>>>>
>>>
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>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
> -Sam'l Clemens
>
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