SBD blahs and rambling
I was going to write about To Say Nothing Of the Dog, but I'm not in the mood. I think I'll point out Doug's cool contest instead. It'll give you something to aim for. Condoms or books. Good times.
But really, the book is a treat and I don't know why I hadn't read it before. It's Wenlock, Wodehouse, Wilde and Prachett cleverness. And the story is fun too.
The dogs** and boy 3 and I are huddled in bed. Another chilly rainy day? Another? And school starts on THURSDAY? We're mourning the end of summer by watching cartoons. Soon we will get up and get more coffee (me) and eat a chocolate chip cookie (him).
This erotic thesaurus I'm flipping through****--still doing research for the class--claims that the word "cock" for male bits was only used from the 17th century on. Hmmm. Paula points out: "Shakespeare refers to a 'combless cock' in Taming the Shrew. I always figured he was going for the double meaning."
Who's right? Paula or Peterkin?
__________
**don't tell the husband because dogs aren't allowed on the bed. He won't know because he doesn't read the blog. Heh.
****The Bald-Headed Hermit and the Artichoke: An Erotic Thesaurus, by A.D. Peterkin. Best thing about the book are the illustrations.
But really, the book is a treat and I don't know why I hadn't read it before. It's Wenlock, Wodehouse, Wilde and Prachett cleverness. And the story is fun too.
The dogs** and boy 3 and I are huddled in bed. Another chilly rainy day? Another? And school starts on THURSDAY? We're mourning the end of summer by watching cartoons. Soon we will get up and get more coffee (me) and eat a chocolate chip cookie (him).
This erotic thesaurus I'm flipping through****--still doing research for the class--claims that the word "cock" for male bits was only used from the 17th century on. Hmmm. Paula points out: "Shakespeare refers to a 'combless cock' in Taming the Shrew. I always figured he was going for the double meaning."
Who's right? Paula or Peterkin?
__________
**don't tell the husband because dogs aren't allowed on the bed. He won't know because he doesn't read the blog. Heh.
****The Bald-Headed Hermit and the Artichoke: An Erotic Thesaurus, by A.D. Peterkin. Best thing about the book are the illustrations.
The earliest citation in the OED for "cock" meaning penis is from 1618 (in Amends for Ladies by Nathan Field). The Taming of the Shrew is from, what, 1594? I would have thought it quite possible that the word had been used colloquially for 25 years before being preserved by Field, so Shakespeare's audience might well have recognised it as a double entendre.
ReplyDeleteIt's always risky to rely on dictionary citations to date earliest usage, all the more so when dealing with slang.
I loved To Say Nothing of the Dog. Willis was extremely clever in her writing but not in a way that made the reader feel less. I still haven't read Jerome Jerome's story.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the cock double entendre crosses cultures (see, for example, Clifford Geertz's essay "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight", wherein Geertz refers to roosters as, I shit you not, "detachable self-operating penises") suggests it may be a lot more ancient than we think. There's a difference between the first appearance of slang in literature vs. language. I suspect the latter is unknowable.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the linky lurve ;)
If you've read To Say Nothing of the Dog and you haven't read Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome yet, then you need to do it. Like, NOW. Srsly.
ReplyDeleteI love those two books like they was my mama.
I read Jerome K Jerome's book and it didn't do as much for me as had been advertised. Too much build up, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI was also in the middle of a Wodehouse binge which might have been part of the problem. PGW's lighter on his feet.
Great post. I adore To Say Nothing of the Dog ! Can't say enough good things about it. Or about "cock". Both are great, though in different ways.
ReplyDeleteBettie? Thank you for that.
ReplyDelete