"moist"

[Joel S. Berson]

More from the early modern period.  In _Hubbub: Filth, Noise & Stench
in England, 1600--1770_,"(2007) Emily Cockayne engages fleas.  "The
entomologist Thomas Muffet (assumed to be the father of the 'little
miss Muffet' tormented by a spider as she tucked into her curds and
whey) observed that fleas molest people when they sleep---especially
'young maids' (they were apparently attracted by their moist parts)."  Page 57.

 From her source note, I think Muffet's observation on moist parts
will be found in Edward Topsell, _The History of Four-Footed Beasts,
Serpents, and Insects_ (London, 1658), pp. 1101-2.

Joel

At 11/4/2011 08:21 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>In "Nature's Body: Gender in the Making of Modern Science" (1993),
>Londa Schiebinger writes (of ancient and/or early modern beliefs):
>
>"Things hot and dry---the sun, for example---were considered
>masculine, while things cold and moist---like the moon, or Western
>regions of the earth---were thought of as feminine."  [p. 38]  And:
>
>"At the heart of the humoral tradition lay the teaching that
>terrestrial elements stood in a hierarchical relationship to one
>another: things hot and dry were superior to things cold and moist."  [p. 186]
>
>Perhaps here lies the explanation of the alleged feminine distaste
>for the word "moist" -- associated with "cold" and the inferior.
>
>Joel
>
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org