[Ads-l] Antedating of "blow job"

Thu Jul 28 20:07:49 UTC 2022

There's also the simple fact that fellatio involves configuring the mouth
in a way that resembles blowing on a musical instrument or whistling. I
clicked around on the translation table for Wiktionary's entry for
"blowjob", and it seems there are other languages that have slang terms for
fellatio with derivations along these lines, e.g.:

- Japanese, 尺八, "shakuhachi, a Japanese end-blown flute"
- Chinese, 吹簫, "to play the xiao (a flute)"
- Bulgarian, свирка, "whistle"
- Dutch, pijpen, "to whistle; to hum; to blow (as in to play a wind
instrument)"

On Thu, Jul 21, 2022 at 11:16 AM Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
wrote:

> The HDAS has 1942 for “blow job” from “No Laughing Matter” and says the
> word comes from prostitution, which makes sense as the origin for the word
> “job” (also "hand job", "foot job"). (FWIW, “blow-job” is hyphenated, but
> it’s at the end of a line, so it’s not clear whether the hyphen is in the
> original citation.)
>
> The origin of “blow” is less clear as blowing (exhaling) and fellating
> (inward suction) are essentially opposites. The HDAS cites “blow” (fellate)
> back to c 1930 (p 198, definition 9a) but has no origin.
>
> A possibility is definition 5a of “blow” in the HDAS: “squander
> money/waste time”. Citations include “‘To blow oneself,’ to spend money
> freely”. This is also under definition 9 of the OED.
>
> It is also possible that there is a connection to tobacco smoke enemas,
> where smoke was blown into the rectum. This might be at least contributory.
>
> What seems the most probable origin of “blow” (fellate) out of the items I
> checked is HDAS definition 3a “to puff upon (a pipe)”. This is also in the
> OED under definition 9b, which has the expression “blow a cloud”. It makes
> sense that the act of “exhaling a cloud of smoke” could develop into the
> idea of “inhaling from a pipe”.
>
> Benjamin Barrett (he/his/him)
> Formerly of Seattle, WA
>
> > On 21 Jul 2022, at 07:25, Baker, John <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM> wrote:
> >
> > Earliest I see on Westlaw: In a 1949 case from Los Angeles County, a
> policeman testified “That when he confronted the defendant and inquired
> ‘what was going on?’, the latter replied, ‘Nothing. I was just giving the
> kid a blow job.’” The court affirmed a conviction for the ‘act of
> copulating the mouth of one person with the sexual organ of another’.
> People v. Milo, 201 P.2d 556, 557 (Calif. Ct. App. Jan. 18, 1949). The
> ruling does not indicate when this took place, but it must have been
> earlier than 1949.
> >
> >
> > John Baker
> >
> >
> >
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <mailto:
> ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>> On Behalf Of Pete Morris
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2022 10:16 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Subject: Antedating of "blow job"
> >
> > External Email - Think Before You Click
> >
> >
> > Last month Fred gave us a possible antedating of 'blow job'
> >
> > OED 1961, Fred's cite possibly 1947.
> >
> >
> > Here are some more antedatings. Caveats about google datings apply.
> >
> >
> > ======================
> >
> > 1945 use of a term "blow job" it doesn’t seem to be the modern meaning.
> > In fact, I can't fathom what it means in context.
> >
> >
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Investigation_of_the_Veterans_Administra/5tOgAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22blow+job%22&pg=PA1312&printsec=frontcover
> <
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Investigation_of_the_Veterans_Administra/5tOgAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22blow+job%22&pg=PA1312&printsec=frontcover>
> <
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Investigation_of_the_Veterans_Administra/5tOgAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22blow+job%22&pg=PA1312&printsec=frontcover%3Chttps://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Investigation_of_the_Veterans_Administra/5tOgAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22blow+job%22&pg=PA1312&printsec=frontcover%3E
> >
> >
> >
> > =====================
> >
> > possible 1946 "then did a blow job on the biggest cock he could find"
> >
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Paunch/TNwsAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22a+blow+job%22&dq=%22a+blow+job%22&printsec=frontcover
> <
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Paunch/TNwsAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22a+blow+job%22&dq=%22a+blow+job%22&printsec=frontcover>
> <
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Paunch/TNwsAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22a+blow+job%22&dq=%22a+blow+job%22&printsec=frontcover%3Chttps://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Paunch/TNwsAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22a+blow+job%22&dq=%22a+blow+job%22&printsec=frontcover%3E
> >
> >
> >
> > ===================
> >
> > possible 1949
> >
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Bulletin_of_the_Menninger_Clinic/Bu9GAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22blow+job%22&dq=%22blow+job%22&printsec=frontcover
> <
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Bulletin_of_the_Menninger_Clinic/Bu9GAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22blow+job%22&dq=%22blow+job%22&printsec=frontcover>
> <
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Bulletin_of_the_Menninger_Clinic/Bu9GAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22blow+job%22&dq=%22blow+job%22&printsec=frontcover%3Chttps://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Bulletin_of_the_Menninger_Clinic/Bu9GAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22blow+job%22&dq=%22blow+job%22&printsec=frontcover%3E
> >
> >
> >
> > ===================
> >
> > Review of court-martial dated 6th July 1951, concerning events that took
> > place in 1950.
> >
> >
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Court_martial_Reports_of_the_Judge_Advoc/4ytEAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22blow+job%22&pg=PA821&printsec=frontcover
> <
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Court_martial_Reports_of_the_Judge_Advoc/4ytEAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22blow+job%22&pg=PA821&printsec=frontcover>
> <
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Court_martial_Reports_of_the_Judge_Advoc/4ytEAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22blow+job%22&pg=PA821&printsec=frontcover%3Chttps://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Court_martial_Reports_of_the_Judge_Advoc/4ytEAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22blow+job%22&pg=PA821&printsec=frontcover%3E
> >
> >
> > ===================
> >
> > possible 1955
> >
> >
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Sexual_Hygiene_and_Pathology/pCBkyIvIoAsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22blow+job%22&dq=%22blow+job%22&printsec=frontcover
> <
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Sexual_Hygiene_and_Pathology/pCBkyIvIoAsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22blow+job%22&dq=%22blow+job%22&printsec=frontcover>
> <
> https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Sexual_Hygiene_and_Pathology/pCBkyIvIoAsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22blow+job%22&dq=%22blow+job%22&printsec=frontcover%3Chttps://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Sexual_Hygiene_and_Pathology/pCBkyIvIoAsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22blow+job%22&dq=%22blow+job%22&printsec=frontcover%3E
> >
> >
> > ===================
> >
> > Possible 1957 Google has mangled two-column text, and the link goes to
> > a different part of the page. I think it says
> > " ...accused took Gregory back to the bedroom , intending “ to give him
> > a blow job "
> >
> >
> https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22blow+job%22+%22Court-martial+Reports%3A+%22&biw=976&bih=505&sxsrf=ALiCzsa5P964Z3imgQSGJ91tGNd-__LJlA%3A1657942242137&source=lnt&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F1957%2Ccd_max%3A12%2F31%2F1957&tbm=bks
> <
> https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22blow+job%22+%22Court-martial+Reports%3A+%22&biw=976&bih=505&sxsrf=ALiCzsa5P964Z3imgQSGJ91tGNd-__LJlA%3A1657942242137&source=lnt&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F1957%2Ccd_max%3A12%2F31%2F1957&tbm=bks>
> <
> https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22blow+job%22+%22Court-martial+Reports%3A+%22&biw=976&bih=505&sxsrf=ALiCzsa5P964Z3imgQSGJ91tGNd-__LJlA%3A1657942242137&source=lnt&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F1957%2Ccd_max%3A12%2F31%2F1957&tbm=bks%3Chttps://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22blow+job%22+%22Court-martial+Reports%3A+%22&biw=976&bih=505&sxsrf=ALiCzsa5P964Z3imgQSGJ91tGNd-__LJlA%3A1657942242137&source=lnt&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F1957%2Ccd_max%3A12%2F31%2F1957&tbm=bks%3E
> >
>
>
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