Comments on: Words that sound dirty but aren't.

Words that sound dirty but aren't.

diastematic — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:07:29 -0800

I'm a big fan of the white-breasted nuthatch. You?

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:13:06 -0800

this is gold. thanks.

By: marvin

marvin — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:13:07 -0800

Is it me or is IKEA full of dirty words? Expect to see the WILLY storage rack, the FUCK shelving system, or coming soon, The CUNT bathroom cabinet.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:14:22 -0800

Windfucker??? What the hell kinda etymology does that have, I wonder.

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:19:33 -0800

Great tits. Invagination. Phallus impudens. Cock-up.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:21:57 -0800

They missed out Regina, canola, annus horribilis, fartlek, twee, and skid marks.

By: hifimofo

hifimofo — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:28:39 -0800

Subpoena. Prostrate. When I was pre-teen they felt obscene (that will teach me to read above my grade and be too lazy to pick up a dictionary). "She gently prostrated his subpoena." Does it get any dirtier?

By: clevershark

clevershark — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:31:19 -0800

There's always bluetits (link somewhat disappointingly safe for work).

By: Robot Johnny

Robot Johnny — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:35:28 -0800

I remember a Letterman Top 10 list with the same subject, but all I could find was this one... The one I remember must be from the NBC days...

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:42:45 -0800

Penal servitude. Oh I say!

By: Arch Stanton

Arch Stanton — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:47:39 -0800

Muckluck.

By: Dag Maggot

Dag Maggot — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:47:57 -0800

I can't believe they didn't have one of the most famous ones, "niggardly".

By: greasepig

greasepig — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 22:20:14 -0800

No "coxswain"? For fuck's sake.

By: greasepig

greasepig — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 22:22:59 -0800

Robot Johnny - I think you're thinking of the one on this page. My favorite is "Shaking Hands with Abraham Lincoln".

By: Robot Johnny

Robot Johnny — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 22:55:48 -0800

Muckluck. Bulbous bouffant.

By: Uther Bentrazor

Uther Bentrazor — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 23:48:33 -0800

I need to locate a dictionary that still lists the definition of "nigger in the woodpile".

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 23:49:46 -0800

I've always been fond of the Galapagos Island's "Blue-footed Booby". Its just so goofy-sounding, I have to love it.

By: synecdoche

synecdoche — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 23:52:14 -0800

I had a girlfriend once who said that "plethora" was one of the dirtiest sounding words that was not dirty. I am inclined to agree.

By: pmurray63

pmurray63 — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:18:13 -0800

Comedian Robert Klein had a routine about this years ago; it's on one of his recordings. He cited "flautist" ("He's a flautist! We caught him up in the hills with a 7 year old child!"), "Guam," and "mucilage."

By: brevity

brevity — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:19:19 -0800

fuscous, a shade of greyish brown.

By: scody

scody — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:31:21 -0800

Papal bull.

By: jonp72

jonp72 — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 01:54:25 -0800

This is exactly what the National Spelling Bee has to look out for. I worked there as a staffer and somebody got in trouble for letting a dickcissel slip in. Anyhow, the classic pseudo-dirty word is even harder to detect. It's "phacometer," but it's pronounced fuck-AH-muh-terr. I think it's a lens grinder used by opticians.

By: stateofmind_77

stateofmind_77 — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 02:28:59 -0800

Personally I'm a fan of fucitol

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 02:34:42 -0800

I am fecund.

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 03:35:45 -0800

Shitticism - A scatological figure of speech I was less impressed when I realized that the author doesn't know what "scatological" means. And then I realized he was just using a dictionary to look for false-friendlies of naughty words.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 04:37:57 -0800

Schism.

By: recurve

recurve — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 04:57:11 -0800

A tufted titmouse . Needs a boob job.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 05:11:03 -0800

Pianist. Funny how people how many people intentionally mispronounce the word (pe-ANN-ist) to avoid sounding like they are saying "penis". I mean, grow up, fuckers.

By: rusty

rusty — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 05:25:11 -0800

Manhole. Masticate. ("Manhole" is my favorite one. Until someone points out that it sounds dirty, most people don't notice. But once it's pointed out, it's hard to even remember what it actually means. Or maybe that's just me.)

By: casarkos

casarkos — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 05:26:03 -0800

I always thought that was how one pronounced "pianist". It's not PE-an-o, is it?

By: Decani

Decani — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 06:02:50 -0800

Inevitably, I'm reminded of this. Wankel rotary enginel.

By: scratch

scratch — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 06:46:05 -0800

My all-time favorite: petcock.

By: spicynuts

spicynuts — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 07:13:09 -0800

Do pronouns count? My favorite town: Coxsackie. Pronounced Cock Sackie. It's claim to fame: the Coxsackie Virus. Priceless. I've always wanted a tshirt that says Coxsackie is for Lovers.

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 07:17:21 -0800

Cuirass always makes me giggle.

By: Foosnark

Foosnark — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 07:29:15 -0800

Boobrie Schist

By: jalexei

jalexei — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 07:35:10 -0800

Aer Lingus

By: jalexei

jalexei — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 07:38:13 -0800

I always thought that was how one pronounced "pianist". It's not PE-an-o, is it? It does seem a bit counterintuitive, but a "pee-ANN-o" is in fact played by a "PEE-a-nist."

By: mdn

mdn — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 07:39:02 -0800

Funny how people how many people intentionally mispronounce the word (pe-ANN-ist) to avoid sounding like they are saying "penis". I mean, grow up, fuckers. I think most people who mispronounce "pianist" just don't know the agreed pronunciation, & just extend the word from the instrument. But, newsreporters definitely mispronounce "Uranus" to avoid "yer anus" and end up saying "urine us"... fucked any way they go, really. yeah, "shitticism" and "windfucker" disappointed me; their definitions indicate that they're not randomly similar in sound to dirty words but are based on them. And "skid marks" is only dirty after having been made into a dirty metaphor for something else.

By: X4ster

X4ster — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 09:31:08 -0800

Plumbing terms from my hardware sales days- ballcock : noun : an automatic valve whose opening and closing are controlled by a spherical float at the end of a lever petcock: noun : a small faucet, or valve for releasing a gas (as air) for draining

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 11:10:04 -0800

There was a book on this subject, something about fartleks. My favorite phrase was from farming: "Head Smut is eating my corn whole!"

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 11:36:21 -0800

It does seem a bit counterintuitive, but a "pee-ANN-o" is in fact played by a "PEE-a-nist." In Britain, yes. Not in America; Merriam-Webster lists pee-ANN-ist as the preferred pronunciation. I remember once asking a pianist how it was pronounced, and she said pee-ANN-ist, so I've stuck with that ever since. Windfucker??? What the hell kinda etymology does that have, I wonder. Just what it sounds like. But it hasn't been used for the last four centuries, so it's something of a ringer. Some nice quotes from the second ("fig. as a term of opprobrium") definition in the OED: 1602 Narcissus MS. Rawl. Poet. 212, lf. 80, I tell you, my little windfuckers, had not a certaine melancholye ingendred with a nippinge dolour overshadowed the sunne shine of my mirthe, I had beene I pre, sequor, one of your consorte. 1609 B. JONSON Silent Wom. I. iv. (1620) C3b, Did you euer heare such a Wind-fucker, as this? c1611 CHAPMAN Iliad Pref. A4, There is a certaine enuious Windfucker, that houers vp and downe, laboriously ingrossing al the air with his luxurious ambition And on googling, I discover that that very entry was quoted on 9622.com by none other than that cunning linguist Miguel. "Regarding Stav's fucknard. There may be no fuckwit in the Oxford English Dictionary (deep, kidney-wounding bow to Marquis and the great university that is McGill) but I discovered a very serviceable fuckwind, cross-referenced to windfucker, which sounds like Hawkwind's triple album of bass farts..." Come back, Migs! All is forgiven!

By: kimota

kimota — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 12:57:04 -0800

What I wanna know is, how much can we raise to pay some creative Mefier to successfully pull off using all these terms in a single, say, 10 page story?

By: diastematic

diastematic — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 17:09:51 -0800

Kimota. Incredible idea. Now we're talkin'. I noticed that the author of that page is also a writer -- has a few chapters of a book online. Perhaps we should challenge him to it, taking into account the marvelous additions the mefi group here has added.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 20:55:00 -0800

Funny how people how many people intentionally mispronounce the word (pe-ANN-ist) to avoid sounding like they are saying "penis". I mean, grow up, fuckers. posted by psmealey at 8:11 AM EST on April 1 [!] When I was about 12, I was playing the piano and one of my brother's friends came in and said "Oh, I see you are a penis, too." At least that is what I thought he said. I hotly denied it as I was actually a vagina. My favorite from the list is "futtock." That sounds extra smutty.

By: Aknaton

Aknaton — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 21:59:33 -0800

George Carlin has a small collection of these in "Brain Droppings": Seersucker Hormone Octopus Trampoline: A sexual lubricant popular with sluts Pussyfoot Beer nuts Cotton balls Woodpecker Rusty, doggone you and your "manhole"! The sort of thing I will never forget.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 00:24:28 -0800

cummingtonite. rusty: "Mandate" always makes me laff.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 00:29:59 -0800

Aer Lingus. Cunnard Lines. (Yes I know. Wouldn't it be funny if they merged.)

By: Aknaton

Aknaton — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 11:27:58 -0800

Since cummingtonite has arrived, it's probably worth mentioning Alan Cumming's line of products, e.g. Cumming: the Fragrance.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 13:54:39 -0800

Consider the Bushtit

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 16:31:57 -0800

Fakir.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 21:15:31 -0800

Anally orientated.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 23:03:52 -0800

Discombobulate.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 20:03:49 -0800

Social intercourse.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 21:11:13 -0800

Heimlich maneuver.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 18:22:32 -0800

A trip to Djibooti through Bangkok with a third leg to Phuket.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 21:45:27 -0800

Slam.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 01:00:13 -0800

Magna cum laude.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 03:56:16 -0800

Curmudgeon.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 15:57:13 -0800

Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman.