Q: "lake and stars", Victorian euphemism?

[Jonathan Lighter]

Sounds like more BS to me. The Victorians didn't need such a euphemisim
because either they wouldn't refer to such a thing (officially it wasn't
supposed to exist) or else, in earthy situations, they would use the real
words.

JL

On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 2:45 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Q: "lake and stars", Victorian euphemism?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 2:26 PM -0400 6/23/09, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> >A friend has asked me about the origins of "Lake and Stars, which
> >references an old Victorian euphemism for a woman's talent in
> >bed".  Very close to my friend's words (except for the
> >capitalization), but these are quoted from "Kenya's Style", on a line
> >of lingerie.
> >
> http://www.kenyasstyle.com/blogs/kenyasstyle/2009/06/todays-pick-the-lake-and-stars.html
> >
> >Google Web seems swamped with pages where the context is underwear.
> >
> Could this be Cockney rhyming slang?  If so, for what?
>
> LH
>
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