History of Slang: A Compilation
Now that's what I call f*ckng
Hey horny readers! Today, I’m breaking down all of the past lessons learned from exploring the history of slang.
Before we get to it, thank you to everyone who came out to the live show at Dynasty Typewriter last Friday!
Thanks to special guests Dylan Adler, Joanna Hausmann, Jeremiah Watkins, Jeena Bloom, and Avery Pearson. The show was a blast and I’ll share some exclusive clips soon. (Follow me on instagram for the latest.)
This week, I’m a guest on Vocabaret, a comedy show for language lovers at Caveat in NYC. Find out more below or on the website here.
As always, thank you so much for reading the ADULT SEX ED newsletter! If you’re enjoying it, please share with friends, so they can be hilariously informed.
Adult Sex Ed comedically challenges why we think what we think about sex. In case you’re new, I’m Dani Faith Leonard, a comedy writer, film producer, and performer. In 2018, I started a comedy show called Adult Sex Ed and launched this newsletter last year. Each week, I take a fun deep dive into a topic that I’ve been researching. Want to know more? Read the whole description on substack here.
Ready to get a little smarter? Okay, let’s go!
The cheesy worldwide brand that distributed everyone’s favorite pop mixtapes in the 90s and early aughts was “Now That’s What I call Music.” In case you were wondering, the most popular album in the U.S. was volume 5, which started with NSYNC’s "It's Gonna Be Me" and ended with me having a moment with myself in the shower. I’ve been noticing some new Adult Sex Ed subscribers, so I wanted to make a mixtape of some of my favorite lessons. In this volume, let’s focus on the History of Slang.
All the way back in May 2023, I wondered what euphemisms can teach us about cultural attitudes over time. Here are the posts that attempt to answer that question and the key takeaways from each.
History of Slang (Part 1): In this post, I did a deep dive on the history of euphemisms for the vagina. Key takeaways: how consistent the slang has been over time. While the euphemisms for a penis through time have been some kind of weapon or useful tool, vaginas have often been infantilized, or compared to receptacles, homes, or holes. I also coined my own vagina’s new nickname: Sigourney Beaver.
On The Rag wasn’t a post specifically about euphemisms, but I did include some fun ones about periods. Fun fact: The word "taboo" comes from the Polynesian term "tapu," which was often spoken in reference to—you guessed it—surfing the crimson wave.
History of Slang (Part 2): In this one, I asked, Can we learn about the evolution of cultural attitudes about gender, bodies and sex by exploring euphemisms for masturbation? Key takeaways: The timeline of English slang for masturbation doesn’t even start until the 1600s! In 1900 the first female-focused euphemism appears on the timeline: sling one’s jelly.
History of Slang (Part 3): In this one, I explored euphemisms for a promiscuous person and wrote a follow up here: What does promiscuity really mean. One thing that really stands out to me is that there are few words about promiscuous straight women that imply that women enjoy sex. On the other hand, a poon hound enjoys pussy. A cocksmith is a master. You know what a cunt hunter is up to. This deep dive had some of the funnier slang terms that you have to read for yourself.
In I Feel Like a Defective Typewriter, I explored what we can learn from euphemisms about pregnancy. Key Takeaways: Overall, very few terms reflect growing a life, but many of them reflect the ending of one. The overarching theme is that pregnancy is something that happens to you, not something you participate in.
In Basket weaving, pouring the pork, doing it, I explored the historical euphemisms for sex and what they imply about difficult times. Key takeaways: Fuck was introduced way back in 1508. New slang terms for sex weren’t invented during times of war. It’s not that people weren’t doing it, but it seems like they felt too weird to put their creativity into writing.
I hope you enjoyed this compilation! Let me know other wordplay posts you’d like to see in the future by leaving a comment.
This Friday (6/14) I’m a special guest on Vocabaret, a comedy show for language lovers at Caveat in NYC.
We're devoting our June show to ONE word. It’s a bad f•cking word. But it might also be the most versatile word in English, which makes it a pretty f•cking good one. Which word are we talking about? Come and find the f•ck out.
FIND OUT MORE AND GET TICKETS.
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