The final taboo

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Perhaps it's not surprising that we employ euphemisms for things that embarrass us.

How many different terms can you think of for ‘vagina’?

The following article has nearly 50, including a few that would surprise Peter Mark Roget.

The final taboo

Pussy Synonyms

Comments

Wilde and Shaw...

... both suggested that England and America were “two nations separated by a common language.”

Obviously that hasn’t changed in the intervening period of time.

Patriotic Speech

OMG, You aren't suggesting ...

Rather than pat her um back bottom, are you saying that Simon um cupped her ah mount; her gasp front bottom? Good heavens, that would be most distracting! :)

Gwen

We're rather fond of American euphemisms...

Andrea Lena's picture

...should we be included?

She was born for all the wrong reasons but grew up for all the right ones.
Possa Dio riccamente vi benedica, tutto il mio amore, Andrea

  

To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle
Love, Andrea Lena

Kevin Bloody Wilson

joannebarbarella's picture

Kev is an Aussie comedian (no, not our Prime minister) who specialises in bawdy songs. One of his classics is "You Can't Say CUNT In Canada" which I can heartily recommend to anybody looking for synonyms for said body part,
Joanne

That song...

is a new one on me. Here are the lyrics:

Oh you can't say 'cunt' in Canada
Saying 'cunt's' not very nice at all
No, you can't say 'cunt' in Canada
So I asked the sheilas what they called it
And they said muff, mutt, minge, quim, twat, little flower, twinkle, tunnel of love,
So if you're gonna say 'cunt' in Canada,
You gotta say it with a velvet glove.
And, you can't say 'cunt' in Canada

No you can't say 'cunt' in Canada
So I thought I better ask the guys
No you can't say 'cunt' in Canada
Why wasn't I surprised?
When they said gash, pussy, poontang, beef curtain, burger, gateway to her guts
(Gateway to her guts? What was I smokin' when I wrote that one?)
Split whisker, beaver, long-eye, front bum, growler, hairy lasso
No, you can't say 'cunt' in Canada
'Cause 'cunt's' considered pretty fuckin' rude

No, you can't say 'cunt' in Canada
So when I get to Montreal
If you're gonna say 'cunt' in Canada
You gotta say it in French as well
So here goes: pilerplut, la cunt, President Mitterand, *kiss kiss*, pepe le pew
No, you can't say 'cunt' in Canada
'Cause 'cunt's' considered pretty damn rude
And you can't say 'cunt' in Canada

Here's a link to Kevin Bloody Wilson introducing and singing the song

Plebeian Song

not to forget

in country music you just can't say the f-word

Country Music & F-word

You obviously have never heard the country music spoof written and performed by Harry Nilsson on his 'Nilsson Son of Schmilsson" album called 'You're Breaking My Heart'.

The F-Word figures prominently. (And humorously)

Wholeman

Yes, the weird author with the boob fetish.

Yes, the weird author with the boob fetish.

What's especially fun...

...are the ways that items whose common name becomes a euphemism for female genitalia (or for any other euphemized class) themselves will sometimes receive a new term to avoid or euphemize the association.

Case in point: "bunny". This term seems to originate as an attempt to avoid the term "cunny", which, in addition to being a diminutive-ized version of "cunt", is also a dialectal variant pronunciation for "coney", a term for "rabbit". I laugh my self sick inside every time I hear an affectionate parent telling their child, who is playing at being certain animals, that they are a "cute little bunny" or something similar. ^^;

Then, of course, there is the wonderful term "donkey" (since Angharad brought up fannies and the differences in American and British understandings thereof... :-P . ). The earlier term was, of course, "ass", which had nothing to do with "arse". As, however, r-lenition (weakening) began to affect certain dialects of English, the pronunciation of the two began to approximate. In order to avoid saying the one meanning "buttocks" when intending the animal, someone used the euphemism "dun-monkey" which, in turn and over time was reduced to "donkey". ^__^

Or at least those are the more credible (and believable) stories, according to my professor in University, in the class on this very subject I helped him with.

Of interest, in tests measuring the degree of discomfort (usually in terms of an initial hesitation before use) of people using various terms, in the U.S. "cunt" (and most of its more common euphemisms and even technical terms) ranks nearly as high as or higher than "nigger" (among all speakers; "nigga" was treated separately, and showed predictable patterns re "race"). There was a significantly longer pause for those terms than for any other "taboo" terms tested (admittedly, the difference was in minute fractions of a second, but there was a clear difference in the timing). I haven't seen results from similar tests with speakers of other Englishes or among L2 speakers of English, so I can't really say anything authoritative about those, nor about similar terms in other languages, though I imagine that there would be a similar trend with words that are similarly stigmatized.

-Liz, who thoroughly enjoys the whole topic of linguistic avoidance strategies. ^___^

-Liz

Successor to the LToC
Formerly known as "momonoimoto"