[off-list] Re: [ADS-L] "fanny", n.4

[Jonathan Lighter]

As watchers of The Simpsons have been aware since 1990, a "wet willie"
(origin admittedly unknown) is a childish prank, a distant relative of the
"Indian burn," in which a saliva-moistened finger is suddenly thrust into
the victim's ear. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!  Try it on anyone, and mirth will
ensue!

JL

On Sun, Dec 16, 2012 at 1:08 PM, Paul Johnston <paul.johnston at wmich.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Paul Johnston <paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: [off-list] Re: [ADS-L] "fanny", n.4
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Well, there was the Southern rock group "Wet Willie"--and don't tell me
> that wasn't intentional in the mid-'70s.  They were from Birmingham,
> Alabama, though British influence is still possible.  It was the usual term
> in Edinburgh, along with "cock" in 1973.
>
> Paul Johnston
> On Dec 16, 2012, at 8:00 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: [off-list] Re: [ADS-L] "fanny", n.4
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > "Willy" seems to have started in the UK.
> >
> > I first heard it used by an American - who'd been in the Peace Corps in
> > Afghanistan in the '70s - in 1984. He'd heard it from Brits.
> >
> > That was after sixteen years of slang research, including nearly ten
> years
> > of student questionnaires (though the students were mostly from the
> > Mid-South).
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Sun, Dec 16, 2012 at 12:09 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
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> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> >> Subject:      Re: [off-list] Re: [ADS-L] "fanny", n.4
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> On Sat, Dec 15, 2012 at 11:27 PM, Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at stanford.edu>
> >> wrote:
> >>> "Peter."
> >>
> >> In my family, Peter's full name is "Peter Weter." My *impression" has
> >> always been that _peepee_ is the source of _Peter (Weter)_ "penis."
> >> For example, A college friend, Wendell ("win-DELL"), universally known
> >> as "Peter," had acquired that nickname, I was told, as a consequence
> >> of his having been difficult to break to the commode. Since I had long
> >> since concluded that _Peter_ "penis" < _peepee_ "urine, urinate," I
> >> had no trouble accepting this explanation as the truth.
> >>
> >> --
> >> -Wilson
> >> -----
> >> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> >> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> >> -Mark Twain
> >>
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> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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