Sussex Nomad
Well-known member
That's better you're using my language now. I am merely the Sexcetera messenger, don't shoot me!
Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊
Where did swear words come from?
- Thread starter Andrew
- Start date
That's better you're using my language now. I am merely the Sexcetera messenger, don't shoot me!
- Jul 7, 2003
- 47,288
Hmmm. How exactly would you name a street after the act of groping a lady's, ahem, special area, if the word for the special area didn't already exist prior to that?
<scratches head>
Superphil
Dismember
Variations include Gropecunte, Gropecountelane, Gropecontelane, Groppecountelane and Gropekuntelane. There were once many such street names in England, but all have now been bowdlerised.
London had several streets named Gropecunt Lane including one in the parishes of St Pancras and St Mary Colchirche, between Bordhawelane (bordello) and Puppekirty Lane (poke skirt) near present-day Cheapside. First recorded in 1279 as Gropecontelane and Groppecountelane, it was part of a collection of streets which appears to have survived as a small island of prostitution outside Southwark, where such activities were normally confined during the medieval period.
London had several streets named Gropecunt Lane including one in the parishes of St Pancras and St Mary Colchirche, between Bordhawelane (bordello) and Puppekirty Lane (poke skirt) near present-day Cheapside. First recorded in 1279 as Gropecontelane and Groppecountelane, it was part of a collection of streets which appears to have survived as a small island of prostitution outside Southwark, where such activities were normally confined during the medieval period.
Superphil
Dismember
The first record of the word grope being used in the indecent sense of sexual touching appears in 1380; c**t has been used to describe the vulva since at least 1230, and corresponds to the Old Norse kunta.
Sussex Nomad
Well-known member
So Kunta Kinte really was a naughty name!
Superphil
Dismember
The word in its modern meaning is attested in Middle English. Proverbs of Hendyng, a manuscript from some time before 1325, includes the advice:
Ȝeue þi cunte to cunnig and craue affetir wedding.
(Give your c**t wisely and make (your) demands after the wedding.)
Ȝeue þi cunte to cunnig and craue affetir wedding.
(Give your c**t wisely and make (your) demands after the wedding.)
Surrey_Albion
New member
some say f*** was Full Unlawful Carnal Knowledge as you shouldnt have known about it, but I was always led to beleive they are all old Anglo Saxon and Nordic words words which were outlawed by the Roman along with paganism etc, The Romans did not like the use of these words as they were inpolite because they were used by pesants and previoyus conquerers and the Romans wanted us to do things their way some of which was getting rid of our language some of which, as already stated ,were direived from Germanic,norse and Saxon
Tricky Dicky
New member
According to QI, there are no references to the 'V' sign being a taunt to the French that the archers have still got their fingers, prior to the 1970s and is assumed to be a very modern story.
Pbseagull
New member
Not exactly a swear word but the word "Shit" goes back to the days when manure was transported by ship. Manure gives off methane which is flammable when moist and would often explode if stored in the hull of a ship, so when it was being packed they would chalk the abbreviation of " Store High in Transit" on the side of the crates. S.H.I.T
Tricky Dicky
New member
A popular myth, I think. Not true.
Pbseagull
New member
You maybe correct but I don't believe everything I read on Wikipedia
The Large One
Who's Next?
....
- Jul 7, 2003
- 47,288
I remember reading a bit of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales while doing English Literature A Level years ago. The Miller's Tale, written in Middle English (I think it was anyway) contained various uses of the word queynte, which the accompanying notes suggested was the contemporary version of c**t. How we sniggered.
Found this on Wikipedia:
Gropecunt Lane ( /ˈɡroʊpkʌnt ˈleɪn/) was a street name found in English towns and cities during the Middle Ages, believed to be a reference to the prostitution centred on those areas; it was normal practice for a medieval street name to reflect the street's function or the economic activity taking place within it. Gropecunt, the earliest known use of which is in about 1230, appears to have been derived as a compound of the words grope and ****. Streets with that name were often in the busiest parts of medieval towns and cities, and at least one appears to have been an important thoroughfare.
Although the name was once common throughout England, changes in attitude resulted in its replacement by more innocuous versions such as Grape Lane. Gropecunt was last recorded as a street name in 1561.
Gropecunt Lane ( /ˈɡroʊpkʌnt ˈleɪn/) was a street name found in English towns and cities during the Middle Ages, believed to be a reference to the prostitution centred on those areas; it was normal practice for a medieval street name to reflect the street's function or the economic activity taking place within it. Gropecunt, the earliest known use of which is in about 1230, appears to have been derived as a compound of the words grope and ****. Streets with that name were often in the busiest parts of medieval towns and cities, and at least one appears to have been an important thoroughfare.
Although the name was once common throughout England, changes in attitude resulted in its replacement by more innocuous versions such as Grape Lane. Gropecunt was last recorded as a street name in 1561.
Bugger!
<font size "1" face="Courier New">Sent from my iPhone usnig my fat fingers.</font>
Lord Bracknell
On fire
Profanities based on sexual themes are a feature of northern European cultures. Southern Europeans prefer religious themes.
blue'n'white
Well-known member
Always understood it to stand for "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"
---
I am here: Google Maps
Come on you super seagulls
---
I am here: Google Maps
Come on you super seagulls
cloud
Well-known member
as well as cuckoldry, which has never really been an issue here
Norman Potting
Well-known member
If you really want to know about the subject this man literally wrote the book on it.
Eric Partridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I did read one of his dictionaries once, every profanity you have ever heard and many that you haven't, all explained in scholarly terms.
Eric Partridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I did read one of his dictionaries once, every profanity you have ever heard and many that you haven't, all explained in scholarly terms.