Fwd: Re: "Fanny"

[Joel S. Berson]

I pass the following on (from a correspondent) for those who wish to
consider whether Fanny Hill (1749) could have been the source of
"fanny" = "female genitalia".  I have not analyzed the entry for
"Frances", except to note that many dates cited are
earlier.  Williams sees a "shift to the diminutive" in several
instances in 1725 through 1745.

"A dictionary of sexual language and imagery in Shakespearean and
Stuart literature," by Gordon Williams (1994), pp. 540-541.

><http://books.google.com/books?id=2XtWDhgljvkC&pg=PA540&dq='Fannying+around'+faineant&hl=en&sa=X&ei=y_nMUKHBOIjjiwLI14HgDg&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false>http://books.google.com/books?id=2XtWDhgljvkC&pg=PA540&dq='Fannying+around'+faineant&hl=en&sa=X&ei=y_nMUKHBOIjjiwLI14HgDg&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
>

Joel

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