Of minks and stoats (and ferrets, Oh my)

[Joel S. Berson]

At 5/10/2009 04:08 PM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard wrote:
>    With regard to minks and their hypersexuality, I once came
> across an insult uttered in the House of Commons:
>"The right honorable gentleman has the morals of a stoat."  (a stoat
>= ermine = type of weasel; and minks are closely related to
>weasels).  I sometimes wondered how the morals of a stoat would be
>much different from the morals of any other wild animal, but thanks
>to ads-l (All praise!), I now know.

As Alison hinted, I think the morals of weasels and stoats are
impugned more for rapine than raping.  Think "Wind in the Willows" --
the invaders of Toad Hall were weasels, stoats, and ferrets.

Joel


>    I can locate the exact reference if anyone is curious.  Also,
> btw, this was part of my checking into the origin of the song "Pop
> Goes The Weasel."
>
>Gerald Cohen
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org