#Foul Language Etymology with Sarah | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sarahmaclean · 2 years

Note

when did people start saying "sexy"? this feels like a thing you would've researched before giving sesily that nickname and my own googling has been unfruitful

oooh! this is a GREAT question, and making me think that I should bring my favorite Twitter thing, Foul Language Etymology with Sarah, to Tumblr!

So! Those of you who have read Bombshell know that much of London calls Sesily Talbot "Sexily Talbot" which is supposed to shame her and only makes her more committed to f*cking things up. Fun writing fact, this happened because every time I typed Sesily while writing the first book she appears din--her sister Sophie's book, The Rogue Not Taken--autocorrect would correct Sesily to Sexily. And I was delighted. (Sometimes you just write where the universe leads you.)

BUT...you can't just let autocorrect from 2015 tell you what to write in 1830, so...you have to go to the source! The source, in this case, being the Oxford English Dictionary which is amazing and provides etymology on every word in the English language (at least the ones that have been around for a while). Fun additional fact: if you have a library card, you very likely have free access to the OED online. Get a library card. Libraries are the literal best.

So. To the tape!

"Sexily," as an adverb, meaning "In a sexy manner," is first seen in print in 1929 with the following line in New Statesman: Simply I will say—slowly, sinuously, but not, I hope, sexily, ‘Welcome, Miss Bumfiddle! welcome, Alimony!’ Which...well...I'm not quite sure what to say about that, except to say that I needed another explanation for her name.

"Sexy," as an adjective, meaning "Containing or characterized by explicit sexual content; erotic, risqué; bawdy, saucy," is an American word from the 1890s, first spelled seksy (Come on, America, Really?) in a text by Enoch Arnold Bennet that reads "Lane had decided..not to handle your work of genius, on the score that it was seksy & America didn't want no seks-problems." Now. I don't know if "work of genius" is a euphemism or what, but I can say America, in fact, has a fair share of seks-problems, so Lane is a dirty liar.

Now, an important thing to note is that words like this (foul language, words relating to sex, and slang), are often in common language for years before they end up in a dictionary. So it would be reasonable to suggest that "sexy" might have been around since the 1860s or 70s. But my book was in the 1830s, so I needed something earlier.

"Sex," as a noun, to describe male or female has been around for what historians refer to as "a long ass time." It's in the Bible. But that doesn't really work. What's worse? "Sex" as an action -- touching butts, if you will -- isn't in print until 1900! HOW! Literally HOW! Honestly, I don't know. Language is nonsense.

BUT. A writer who is procrastinating really will not be thwarted. Because there, way down on the list of OED references to "sex" is:

"Sex: slang or euphemistic. A person's genitals."

1664. T. Killigrew Princess ii. ii, in Comedies & Trag. 22 Another ha's gon through with the bargain... One that will find the way to her Sex, before you'le come to kissing her hand.

And there it is. The winner. Historical romance novelists have been referencing his or her sex for literal decades, and this is why! Even better, calling someone "Sexily" is even more slut-shamey than before now that it's literally referring to a body part. Perfection. Sexily can laugh in the face of society, Caleb can come absolutely unhinged, and on with the show.

Read all about it in Bombshell.

Also, as always when I talk about the way we police language, please accept this: Words are not inherently dirty. They are just words. When we police language--especially language used by marginalized groups--we are often policing something else entirely. If you're interested in how smashing the policing of language can also smash the patriarchy, please read Mona Eltahawy's The Seven Necessary Sins for Women & Girls.

#etymology #Foul Language Etymology with Sarah #Language is nonsense #words are not bad people are bad #bombshell #the rogue not taken #sexy sexily sex

60 notes · View notes

infinitedungas · 2 years

Text

i have spent more of my precious time on this earth than i care to admit deciding which of the doctorwhos will say fuck

here are my findings, please enjoy

first doctor: swears once in a blue moon. always catches people off guard which he thinks is hilarious, cue much heeheehoohoo wehehehe

second doctor: a wholesome grandpa who has never said anything stronger than "fiddlesticks". gently bonks jamie on the head if he says a naughty word

third doctor: let off a litany of curses in front of the brigadier once, just to see what would happen (outcome: subject rendered puce and speechless)

fourth doctor: will let off a booming great “FUCKING HELL” when under stress but rarely in front of sarah jane. censors himself less around romana and definitely swears at K9

fifth doctor: absolutely does not swear, thinks it’s terribly bad taste and tegan swears enough for all of them anyway

sixth doctor: RIP peri and mel they put up with so much from this foul mouthed little rainbow gremlin. swearing intensifies when mel puts him on a diet

seventh doctor: swears with an impressive amount of creativity, mostly to get a laugh out of ace and usually in languages no-one else can speak

eighth doctor: swears often and with enthusiasm, prone to following with a ramble about the etymology of certain curse words

war doctor: has been through the wringer so hard that most swear words feel insufficient now, but will use a well-timed f-bomb now and then

ninth doctor: realises soon after his regeneration that northern accents were made for swearing. fookin ell rose it’s the fookin daleks

tenth doctor: keeps it extremely tame. most companions get a half-joking, half-serious “oi. language” if they swear - the exception being donna bc he quickly realises she is a lost cause

metacrisis doctor: canonically curses in the extended universe stuff and rose calls it “donna swearing”, confirming my suspicions that donna will say fuck and ten will not say fuck

eleventh doctor: absolutely does swear but people are always surprised / mildly scandalised by it because he looks about twelve

twelfth doctor: of course he fucking does, get in the fucken box clara we’re gonnae go shit up davros and his wee pepperpot cunts

thirteenth doctor: not a swear in sight. possibly got it all out of her system in the previous incarnation. yaz reacts with mock outrage if she even says “heck”

2K notes · View notes