#this post is about doin it
Etymology of penis euphemisms! *yay words* :D Really I think “cock = penis” could have evolved from most of these meanings… “to stand up”? Really? ^_^… so I’d want more evidence that it was specifically from “that young man is cock of the rock” etc - but just COLLATING ALL THE MEANINGS. SO AWESOME. *flails*
I pointed to ‘young man’ as the most pertinent etymological route because it’s similar to a lot of other words for 'penis’: 'John Thomas’, 'Dick’, etc. However, you’re right in that the multiple different meanings of the word helped cement the 'penis’ meaning of the word. Generally, colloquialisms take hold much more easily if the imagery works on multiple levels and this is immediately evident to the speaker. No doubt the 'stand up’ homonym helped it along.
zorawitch: LMFAOOOOOOOOOO! GET OUT!
actually, while we’ll never know for sure where that particular bit of slang comes from, the most likely origin is from the old norse word puss, which means ‘purse, pocket’, while the nickname for cats is an onomatopoeia for the hissing sound cats make. thus, both words are a false cognate, though very likely the homonym factor helped the slang’s permanence.
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Michael K Williams as Julius Caesar for the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.
For various reasons, I’m relieved to see black guys getting Shakespearean roles that are not Othello.
Fun fact: in ancient Rome, grabbing your nuts meant “I am telling the absolute truth” (“testimony” and “testicles” are from the same root; I wonder if “mony” in this compound is the same as in “alimony,” it’d make the whole word “I bet my balls this is true”). I am not sure what an extended middle finger and the derpface meant, though.
actually, testimony is a shortened form of testimonium, whereas alimony is a shortened form of alimonia. both went through french before they came to english, and french monks really liked putting ‘-y’s and ‘-ie’s on the end of things.
also most etymologists think that the reason why testis literally means ‘witness’ is because testicles, according to the romans, ‘bore witness’ to one’s relative masculinity, but it’s totally possible either, or both, explanations make sense. either way, it’s weird as hell. and also really cool. but not as cool as michael k williams.
fun fact i learned while researching this: old english for balls was herþan which basically meant ‘leather bag’ for reasons that may or may not be obvious.
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