"to ring changes", sexual, 1736

Mon Apr 5 05:31:03 UTC 2010

"The sexual imagery in bell ringing needs no elaboration."

That's a first.  Philabellphia.

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL7+ 
see truespel.com phonetic spelling

> Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2010 20:06:14 -0500
> From: gcohen at MST.EDU
> Subject: Re: "to ring changes", sexual, 1736
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> 
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at MST.EDU>
> Subject: Re: "to ring changes", sexual, 1736
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> The 1736 sexual reference of "ring the changes" only partially concerns =
> the variations involved. Also relevant here is (1) the sexual imagery =
> involved in bell-ringing and (2) the great exertion that goes into the =
> British style of bell-ringing known as ringing the changes.=20
> =20
> (1) The sexual imagery in bell ringing needs no elaboration. But cf. =
> also HDAS (under "bell"): "ring the bell" (meaning #1: "to induce an =
> orgasm" and meaning #2: "impregnate a woman." Cf. also my article =
> "Sexual Terms and Metaphors In The Blues," Part 1 (in Studies in Slang, =
> Part 5, Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main, 1997, pp. 73-126). On page 76 I =
> present "bell" =3D "female genitalia" and "bell, (to) ring" =3D "to have =
> sex."
> =20
> As for the great exertion involved in change ringing see Glynn Mapes's =
> article in The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 2, 1989, pp. 1, 14, titled "For =
> Whom Does The Bell Toll If It Doesn't Toll At All? [subtitle]: The Art =
> of Change Ring Is Dying Out In England."
> The article mentions that change ringing originated in England in the =
> early 1600s. The scale of bells is first struck from the highest to the =
> lowest note, and then variations are made on this scale, with each =
> variation known as a change. A peal is a series of 5,000 or so changes =
> and takes about three hours. The ringing requires considerable stamina, =
> since some bells weight more than a ton, and intense mental =
> concentration is also necessary. By contrast, the playing of tunes on =
> bells in continental Europe is regarded by aficionados of changing =
> ringing as childish.
> =20
> So, the reason why the 1736 maid used the expression "ring the changes" =
> seems clear. A full-fledged orgy was about to get under way, and "ring =
> the changes" conveyed in a cutesy way all the exertion/energy that would =
> soon be expended plus, of course, most likely the exchanging of =
> partners.
> =20
> Gerald Cohen
> =20
> =20
> Original message from Joel S. Berson, Sun 4/4/2010 12:56 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: "to ring changes", sexual, 1736
> 
> Interdates OED2 1712--1763. But casts a different light on the
> meaning.from both Addison's 1712 "The Poet rung the Changes upon
> these eight several Words" (under "ring v.2, 8.b") and the 1786 "To
> initiate him into the art of what that gentleman stiled ringing the
> changes; that is, ingeniously substituting a worse for a better
> article, and decamping without a discovery" (under change n., 8.c, =
> slang).
> 
> Boston Evening-Post, 1736 July 5, page 1, col. 2. From the Political
> State for April, 1736. [EAN; _The Political State of Great Britain_
> for 1736 is extant.]
> 
> "she invited these Guests home to her Master's House, where they
> drank plentifully from 10 in the Morning till 4 in the Afternoon,
> when Jane Andrews proposed to the Company (the Drummer, Chimney
> sweeper and strange [that is, out-of-town] Woman) that they and she
> should all go to Bed together; and thereupon she shut up the Doors
> and Windows, and though 'twas but about 4 o'Clock in the Afternoon,
> they stript, and all four went into one Bed together, (as the Maid
> call'd it _to ring Changes_) and lay there till a Mob, hearing of
> this Affair, surrounded the Door, and disturbed the happy Pairs"
> 
> What do slang dictionaries have for a sexual connotation? Chapman
> has simply "To make or try out variations, esp. ingeniously."
> 
> Joel
> 
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