Morning Glory Road renamed due to sexual connotation

Benjamin Torbert btorbert at GMAIL.COM
Wed Apr 10 01:56:56 UTC 2013


I hear (or read) "sexual climax" in print now and then, but rarely if ever
hear anyone say it, as in "she climaxed."

There's a Climax, NC, which we thought was hilarious when I was a kid in
North Carolina.


On Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 7:09 PM, Geoffrey Steven Nathan <
geoffnathan at wayne.edu> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Geoffrey Steven Nathan <geoffnathan at WAYNE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Morning Glory Road renamed due to sexual connotation
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> We have close friends, one of whose parents are buried in Climax,
> Michigan. The name still generates snickers among many folks. FWIW
>
> Geoff
>
> Geoffrey S. Nathan
> Faculty Liaison, C&IT
> and Professor, Linguistics Program
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> ----- Original Message -----
>
> > From: "Brian Hitchcock" <brianhi at SKECHERS.COM>
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 9, 2013 7:51:22 PM
> > Subject: Re: Morning Glory Road renamed due to sexual connotation
>
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> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Brian Hitchcock <brianhi at SKECHERS.COM>
> > Subject: Re: Morning Glory Road renamed due to sexual connotation
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > For many years I lived near a road called "Climax Road" (presumably
> > because it ran along the crest of the hill). People kept stealing the
> > sign (this was in the 1980s.) Then the county renamed the road "9th
> > Place
> > West". Nobody stole those signs. (Tangentially... there were morning
> > glories growing wild along Climax Road; in western Washington they
> > are not
> > considered flowers, but are one of the most tenacious of invasive
> > weeds --
> > you can't get rid of them!)
>
> > But even then, it seemed to me that "climax" was a bit outdated as a
> > naughty word; it seemed like a cute but passe euphemism. Nowadays it
> > is
> > rarely heard, though it is not uncommon to hear talk show hosts and
> > guests
> > discussing "orgasm". Does anyone still call it a "climax"?
>
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