Antedating of "Suck"

[Mark Mandel]

"Bunghole" and "bumhole" are both good candidates for this 1772 usage. From OED:

bung-hole (under "bum" (n.1), in sense 6):
transf.  the anus (obs.);
1611 COTGR., Cul de cheval, a small and ouglie fish, or excrescence of
the Sea, resembling a mans bung-hole, and called the red Nettle [= Sea
Anemone].

bum-hole:
slang (chiefly Brit.).
ARSEHOLE n. (in various senses). In early use: spec. the anus; = ARSEHOLE n. 1.
1611 J. FLORIO Queen Anna's New World of Words at Trullo, A trill or bum-hole.
1665 J. PHILLIPS tr. P. Scarron Typhon i. 5 Ran as swift from Pole to
Pole, As if h'd had at his bum-hole The God of Fire.

Victor's other suggestion, "butt-hole", doesn't look as likely. There
are 14 headword entries for "butt", but the only mention of this
combination is far off:

butt (n.3)
6. Comb[ination]: .... butt-hole, a blind hole, a cul-de-sac

For the root sense, ibid.
3. A buttock. Chiefly dial. and colloq. in U.S.
with the only British quotations (1450-1601) referring to cuts of meat.

m a m


On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 6:19 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm guessing "bunghole", a hole drilled into a barrel, and corked with a
> bung.


On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 6:23 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Â I was puzzled by this when it first appeared, but didn't think it
> worthy of note, at the time. The only thing that came to mind, under the
> circumstances, is "butthole" or "bumhole". "Backside" hard deserves such
> drastic circumvention.

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