• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

The C Word

dafydd said:
Kont is an old Flemish word for backside. I wonder how and why it got transferred from the back to the front in English.
Click to expand...

Ach, the English always get things arse-around! ;)

But come-on, linguistic links between Dutch, Flemish, and English. Who would have thought it? :p
 
gumboot said:
It may have had its name changed later - as others have pointed out the standard name for a red light district in Medieval England was Grope****. When they word started to become inappropriate for public discourse from about the 15th/16th Century these roads were renamed. Many were given misleading names like "Grape Lane" but some were no doubt renamed with a new phrase designating them as a place to cop a feel with a friendly lady.
Click to expand...

This is true, I designed a museum that had a nearby street with just such a name. The archivist/historian on the project (a fellow Scot) thought it a complete hoot.
 
zooterkin said:
Where and when? You've asserted this before, but I can't find any evidence of it being true.
Click to expand...

I've heard this as well, from some older gents that i used to work with, or that lived in the same building as my grandmother. The only other place i have heard it is on the show Boardwalk Empire, in witch they reference this.

Which is to say, that i have heard it commonly stated, but have no real solid evidence either way of its veracity.
 
sadhatter said:
I've heard this as well, from some older gents that i used to work with, or that lived in the same building as my grandmother. The only other place i have heard it is on the show Boardwalk Empire, in witch they reference this.

Which is to say, that i have heard it commonly stated, but have no real solid evidence either way of its veracity.
Click to expand...
That's why I asked for "where", as well as "when". It may have been a local usage; there's nothing in the OED to suggest it ever meant more than kissing with tongues in British English.
 
zooterkin said:
That's why I asked for "where", as well as "when". It may have been a local usage; there's nothing in the OED to suggest it ever meant more than kissing with tongues in British English.
Click to expand...

Or American English (the earliest uses seem to be American). The verb "to French" can mean "To practise fellatio or cunnilingus (on)," according to the OED, but the earliest use (1923) is later than the earliest instances of French kiss(ing) (1859 for French kissing).
 
Lucian said:
Or American English (the earliest uses seem to be American). The verb "to French" can mean "To practise fellatio or cunnilingus (on)," according to the OED, but the earliest use (1923) is later than the earliest instances of French kiss(ing) (1859 for French kissing).
Click to expand...

My OED has 1958 as the earliest example of "Frenching", but it is the old edition. However,in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I would contend that "Frenching" doesn't necessarily derive from "French kissing". The two may well have become synonyms later, leading to confusion.
 
zooterkin said:
My OED has 1958 as the earliest example of "Frenching", but it is the old edition. However,in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I would contend that "Frenching" doesn't necessarily derive from "French kissing". The two may well have become synonyms later, leading to confusion.
Click to expand...

The earliest use of "to French" meaning "to French kiss" is from 1975, so it indeed seems to be the case that the "Frenching" and "French kissing" were not originally synonymous, but I can see where the confusion comes from. By the way, the 1923 quote for "to French" is "Bartender, he Frenched my Nellie" from Poems, Ballads and Parodies.
 
The term 'French Kiss' is cited in Private Lindner’s Letters: Censored and Uncensored of 1918:

'So I have decided to become a linguist. Being able to read French fluently and speak it wretchedly, and to speak German connectively but not to read it at all, I am taking up Luxembourg, which is a wonderful blend of the two, a sort of liaison [sic] between tongues. (Not to be confused with French kissing.)'


I knew all about French kissing in the 1960's
 
Last edited:
sadhatter said:
The show yes, but the live show, that was going till what, 2005, 2006? ( don't have the movies next to me ATM.) Heck i am 27 and that doesn't seem that far back for me.
Click to expand...
Wikipedia has the last stage show as 2003, but I think it dropped off my consciousness after the third/last TV series, and the first stage run. I thought Filthy, Rich and Catflap was a better series, anyway!
 
dafydd said:
I never use the word unless I am actually talking about the piece of anatomy in question. To use it as an insult is an insult to women.
Click to expand...

This. In general, I think referring to a person as one of their body parts is an attempt to lessen them, or at least to divert focus from who they are.
 
Information Analyst said:
Wikipedia has the last stage show as 2003, but I think it dropped off my consciousness after the third/last TV series, and the first stage run. I thought Filthy, Rich and Catflap was a better series, anyway!
Click to expand...

You know i love filthy rich and catflap, but i for some reason find the episodes have a tad too much filler. Actually besides the really old british saturday night stuff ( the danger brothers) i can't think of a Rik Mayal series i don't like. I'm just hoping Rik and Ade's new series is just as good.
 
richardm said:
What what?
Click to expand...

Yeah, its kind of like the "The old ones" series they had planned ( i think nigel and the rest are not going to be in it, last i heard it was just rik and ade. ) , but with just Rik and Ade, in a retirement home, doing the same stuff they have been doing for a few decades.

They really recently , actually put aside all of their personal b.s. , ( if your really good at youtube ninjary, you can probably find the telethon in which this all started, it was in the last 3-4 years i believe.) and last time i looked the series is either out in the next couple months, or next September or so.

I am about as obsessed with Rik Mayal and Ade Edmonson , as i am with knives and skepticisim, lol.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom