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C*nt originally a term of endearment?

cunt

[ME. cunte, count(e), corresponding to ON. kunta (Norw., Sw. dial. kunta, Da. dial. kunte), OFris., MLG., MDu. kunte:Gmc. *kuntn wk. fem.; ulterior relations uncertain.]


1. The female external genital organs. Cf. QUAINT n.
Its currency is restricted in the manner of other taboo-words: see the small-type note s.v. FUCK v.

[c1230 in Ekwall Street-Names of City of London (1954) 165 Gropecuntelane.] a1325 Prov. Hendyng (Camb. Gg. I. 1) st. 42 Yeue i cunte to cunnig and craue affetir wedding. c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 172/12 In wymmen e necke of e bladdre is schort, & is maad fast to the cunte. c1425 Castle of Perseverance (1904) 1193 Mankynde, my leue lemman, I my cunte ou schalt crepe. 1552 LYNDESAY Satyre Procl. 144 First lat me lok thy cunt, Syne lat me keip the key. a1585 POLWART Flyting with Montgomerie (1910) 817 Kis e cunt of ane kow. c1650 in Hales & Furnivall Percy's Folio MS. (1867) 99 Vp start the Crabfish, & catcht her by the Cunt. 1743 WALPOLE Little Peggy in Corr. (1961) XXX. 309 Distended cunts with alum shall be braced. c1800 BURNS Merry Muses (1911) 66 For ilka hair upon her ct, Was worth a royal ransom. c1888-94 My Secret Life VII. 161, I sicken with desire, pine for unseen, unknown cunts. 1934 H. MILLER Tropic of Cancer (1935) 15 O Tania, where now is that warm cunt of yours? 1956 S. BECKETT Malone Dies 24 His young wife had abandoned all hope of bringing him to heel, by means of her cunt, that trump card of young wives.



transf. and fig. a1680 LD. ROCHESTER Poems on Several Occasions (1950) 28 Her Hand, her Foot, her very look's a Cunt. 1922 JOYCE Ulysses 61 The grey sunken cunt of the world. 1928 D. H. LAWRENCE Lady Chatterley xvi. 296 If your sister there comes ter me for a bit o' cunt an' tenderness, she knows what she's after.



2. Applied to a person, esp. a woman, as a term of vulgar abuse.

1929 F. MANNING Middle Parts of Fortune I. viii. 159 What's the cunt want to come down 'ere buggering us about for, 'aven't we done enough bloody work in th' week? 1932 ‘G. ORWELL’ Coll. Essays (1968) I. 88 Tell him he's a cunt from me. 1934 H. MILLER Tropic of Cancer (1935) 28 Two cunts sail inAmericans. 1956 S. BECKETT Malone Dies 99 They think they can confuse me... Proper cunts whoever they are. 1965 V. HENRIQUES Face I Had 69 ‘What d'you think you're doing, you silly cunt?’ the driver shouts at her.



3. Comb.

1680 ANON. in Rochester's Poems on Several Occasions (1950) 36 Fam'd through the World, for the C--nt-mending Trade. 1868 Index Expurgatorius of Martial 32 A satire on Baeticus, who was a priest of Cybele, and a cunt-sucker. 1891 FARMER Slang II. 230/2 Cunt-struck, enamoured of women. 1923 J. MANCHON Le Slang 97 Cunt-hat,..chapeau de feutre. 1965 F. SARGESON Memoirs of Peon, ii. 28 We were all helplessly and hopelessly c...struck, a vulgar but forcibly accurate expression.
I honestly don't believe "cunt" is a term of endearment in anybody's idiolect. Not yet, anyway, and certainly not among people at an American university.
 
What's the source of your quote and what year? Without that info a dictionary definition is fairly useless really.
Lexicographical codification is by definition out of date and only records certain kinds of usage.

I am still really surprised that cunt is considered a term of abuse particularly for women - in the fifties and sixties perhaps, when soap powder etc commercials, the kind of thing that consists of two women discussing the merits of a certain product, were apparently called "two cunts in a kitchen" commercials in the trade, but not now.

I can think of several people I could quite happily and indeed do use cunt as a term of endearment to, in a sort of "now then, you daft old cunt" kind of way.

Also I have heard "don't be such a cunt" used in much the same friendly way as "don't be tight" or something similar, if someone tries to avoid buying a round in a bar etc.

I would use the word cunt myself quite happily in both these ways under certain circumstances - e.g. in certain registers (i.e. not to my mum perhaps, but amongst some people I know).

Perhaps we mix in radically different circles, you and I.
 
sidecar_jon said:
when the local new Uni was askign ofr sugestions of name i sugested..Cornwall University and National Training....

Rumour has it that when Newcastle Polytechnic became a 'new university', they were intending to call it 'City University of North Tyneside'. It became Northumbria University instead.

And I agree with Lizard, I have often heard 'cunt' used as a term of endearment in similar ways. Anyone who knows the works of Irvine Welsh will be familiar with this.
 
Another linguistic curiosity is that the German word for cunt also means a sheath or scabbard. The word is 'Scheide'. It seems that most people in the middle ages liked the idea of calling it a sheath.

Mind you, if you look at Romeo and Juliet by old Jaques-pierre you will see an exchange between two blokes based on a pun between 'sword' as in a long piece of metal to stab people with and 'sword' as in a cock. So the 'sheath word' seems to go hand in hand with the 'sword word'.
 
By the way, in the original court case the question should not have been whether or not the word 'cunt' can be used as a term of endearment, but rather whether it was used in this way in the case in question. Because whether or not it can be used as a term of endearment, it can certainly be used as a vulgar word for vagina and is almost always used in an insulting manner. Any use of the word as a term of endearment must be a pretty rare thing.
 
The link to the word 'coney' as in rabbit is interesting. This is likely to be one of the origins of the word 'cunny'. It's like the way some Americans call it 'beaver' these days and most people in the world call it a 'pussy' - all small furry animals.

The existence of the word 'cunnilingus' would tend to shore up the use of the word 'cunny' from 'coney' as would the existence of the word 'cunt' in the language, which, although it has a different root, sounds similar enough to reinforce the idea that anything with 'cun' in it must have to do with the vagina.
 
A Swedish girl I knew told me that the Swedish for 'corner' is 'cunt' (although the spelling might be different).

Carole
 
what an interesting thread this is.This board really is a winner.

i have heard the word used as a term of endearment certainly.I have also seen women go beserk at the mention of it.When i have asked why they hate it so much the answer is never very clear.
i would say the word can be used most effectively for good and bad which makes it a valid and rather handy word indeed.

personally i find the words 'penis' and 'vagina' most cringeworthy.what is wrong with 'cunt and cock' ????

when folks are making the rudies i doubt they refer to their parts as 'penis and vagina'......it sounds like two boarding school snivelling numptys meeting up for a cup of weak tea.Whereas 'cunt and cock' would be carousing around heated taverns singing and raising the roof.I know who I would rather be with
 
In the 80's song "rock me amadeus" by Falco, they definitely say C**T at one point. :eek!!!!:

Oh, and the oldest term for "that thing" is actually "place of pleasures". It was used in Clan of the Cave Bear, which was written 35 000 years ago. ;)

Personally, I quite like "Lady Garden".
 
The French word for cunt is con but I don't think that many people know the true sense of it any more. I certainly used it for years as an insult/term of endearment before stumbling accross the original meaning by accident...
 
re- small fury animal referances.. the guset shot so previlent in Pop Vids nowdays is known to some in the trade as the "hampster shot"
 
sidecar_jon said:
re- small fury animal referances.. the guset shot so previlent in Pop Vids nowdays is known to some in the trade as the "hampster shot"

:rofl:
 
Sally said:
The French word for cunt is con but I don't think that many people know the true sense of it any more. I certainly used it for years as an insult/term of endearment before stumbling accross the original meaning by accident...

'Le Diner De Cons' will never seem the same again now :eek:
 
I so know a guy who loves nothing better than being called one! In fact he is busy propogating t-shirts to the effect.

There is another link: The groove around a braid of rope is called a cxxt. Many is the the time I have been to a boat fair to see an old sailor working his thumb along a nice firm splice.
 
The French word "con" - very linguistically similar, of course - is probably better translated as tw@t in terms of strength - as an insult, etc.

And "you can" in Dutch is "u kunt" which just looks like txt spk...
 
i am shattered......those peeps that call me a Careing Understanding Nice Type are not neccasarily being nice to me?
 
Work not the best place to open that link :( especially as I work in an educational library.

As I said on another thread, I don't find it offensive but I do like the look of horror on other peoples face when it is used.

It's only a word after all and words can only hurt or offend you if you let them.
 
In Scotland, the word is often a term of endearment - so much so, it certainly lacks the impact it seems to have in England - and certainly not the impact it has in the US! (My NY girlfriend still has moments of horror when in Scotland.)

Funny thing is, the word is mostly used to refer to a man... as in...

'ye daft c**t' (you foolish man)
'Aw thae c**ts' (All of those people)
'Awrigh', ya c**t?' (Hello there, good fellow.')
'
 
What happens when you apply c*nt to a few sayings.......


If you cant stand the c*nt, get out of the kitchen.

The squeaky c*nt gets the grease.

We have nothing to fear but c*nts themselves.

To err is human. To forgive is a c*nt.

Early to bed and early to rise makes a c*nt healthy, wealthy and wise.

Laugh and the c*nts laughs with you. Cry, and you cry alone.

Life is like a box of c*nts. You never know what you are going to get.
 
"Darned if you can, darned if you c*nt!"

A phrase often used in the Knightsbridge area, usually on leaving Harrods, is:

"I saaay! Some can't has parked his tatty ol' banger in front of my Bentley!"

I may have gotten this wrong...
 
When Carlton and United News merged a few years back they very nearly called themelves "Carlton and United News Television", even going as far as to have stationery printed with the unhappy acronym (Private Eye took great glee in announcing it) :).
 
Hur! Hur! Yip! Yip! Chortle! Chortle!

This is what huge companies pay unfeasable amounts of money to consultancies for.

Coming up with bad ideas, taking vast amounts of money then disappearing into the woodwork.

See: "A Good Idea At The Time" programme on BBC1 on Monday evenings. The Millenium Dome, the Sinclair C5, BA repainting it's tail fins ... the works!
 
stu neville said:
When Carlton and United News merged a few years back they very nearly called themelves "Carlton and United News Television", even going as far as to have stationery printed with the unhappy acronym (Private Eye took great glee in announcing it) :).

Somewhat reminiscent of the UL of a school which was going to call itself the Sam Houston Institute of Technology. ;)
 
Leaferne said:
Somewhat reminiscent of the UL of a school which was going to call itself the Sam Houston Institute of Technology. ;)

Or Huddersfield Poly was going to become: the First University of the County of Kirklees.
 
in liverpool city council, they have Fast Action Response Teams to deal with flytipping etc.
 
Now BBC plans an 'I love the C-word' documentary

By JAMES TAPPER - More by this author » Last updated at 17:28pm on 14th January 2007

The BBC came under new fire after it announced plans for a £200,000 TV documentary devoted to the most offensive word in the English language.

The programme - tentatively titled I love The C-Word - is billed as examining why the word has become more mainstream in recent years.

But both Shadow Culture Secretary Hugo Swire and John Whittingdale, chairman of the Commons Culture Select Committee, attacked the plans.

Mr Swire said: "People expect high standards from the BBC and many might well be offended by effectively subsidising programmes of this nature through the licence fee.

"The change of language is an entirely good thing to look at, but I don't see why they have to sensationalise the subject.

"I'm sure they can have a stimulating debate about the change of language without resorting to the crude and baser words."

Mr Whittingdale said: "I have a general principle that I do not condemn programmes until I have seen them. But the BBC have got to recognise this is a word that still offends a large number of people." The programme is being made for BBC3 by the independent production company North One Television, whose previous shows have included Top Ten X-Rated, The Curse Of Page Three and The World's Most Shocking Ads, as well as more mainstream 'tabloid' shows such as Madonna's Men and The Truth About Gordon Ramsay.

Its presenter - who is expected to be a comedian, rather than an academic - will interview pundits, academics and artists about the use of the word over the past 30 years and the word itself will be broadcast uncensored.

Contributors will include feminist academic Germaine Greer and Eve Ensler, the author of The Vagina Monologues, an acclaimed stage play which features women talking about their genitals.

Both the BBC and North One claimed it will not be sensationalist. A spokeswoman for the programme said: "It will look at how a word that was considered completely unacceptable has moved into the mainstream, particularly by younger people. The tone will be a serious exploration of the word."

And North One's head of factual entertainment John Quinn told the TV industry magazine Broadcast: "It will be a grown-up discussion about how we have got to where we are now with this word without being either sensationalist or po-faced.

"It is perhaps one of the last words that has the ability to stop someone in their tracks and it is fascinating to see how differently it is perceived around the world."

I Love The C-Word is the latest in a growing number of BBC programmes that have featured the word in recent years, despite internal BBC research showing that it is the one viewers hate the most.

Last year it featured 12 times in The Chatterley Affair, a BBC4 drama about the 1960 obscenity trial over D. H. Lawrence's book.

It has been used frequently in the award-winning BBC4 political sitcom The Thick Of It, starring Chris Langham as fictional Social Affairs Minister Hugh Abbot and Peter Capaldi as belligerent spin doctor Malcolm Tucker.

And Germaine Greer made a 10-minute film about the history of the word for the BBC2 series Balderdash And Piffle.

In 2004, the BBC received a record number of complaints about its decision to broadcast the controversial Jerry Springer: The Opera. It contained 8,000 obscenities including the use of the f-word 200 times and the c-word nine times.

www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/artic ... ge_id=1770
 
When Carlton and United News merged a few years back they very nearly called themelves "Carlton and United News Television", even going as far as to have stationery printed with the unhappy acronym (Private Eye took great glee in announcing it)

I think this may be an urban myth... it has cropped up following various organisations' mergers or name changes. My favourite was the claim in the 60s that Kings College Durham was to become City University of Newcastle upon Tyne rather than dull old University of Newcastle. Oddly, the exact same claim was made about Newcastle Poly when it obtained university status in the early 90s.

So I don't really buy the Carlton story I'm afraid!
 
chockfullahate said:
in liverpool city council, they have Fast Action Response Teams to deal with flytipping etc.
They may be called F.A.R.T., but they're sh1t-slow.
 
I had to call them out myself.

'Ok Mr Bubz, see you next Tuesday'
 
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