vagina et alia

The brouhaha over a Michigan state Representative being banned from speaking on the House floor after saying the word “vagina” has led to, among other outcomes, a spate of articles suggesting euphemisms for “vagina.”

For example, Naomi McAuliffe writes, in the Guardian:

Apparently, when discussing a medical procedure, it's not really appropriate to use medical words. Well not about lady bits anyway. It makes me wonder what euphemisms would be acceptable. “Will the representative get his hand out of the otter's pocket?” “Can the honourable gentleman refrain from trespassing in the lady cave?”

Otter's pocket! Apparently this is from the phrase “wetter than an otter's pocket,” which some people use to refer to weather (18-sec video), while others use it to refer to female (human) arousal.

Later in the same article, McAuliffe uses the terms “lady garden,” “fanny-fou-fah,” “fun tunnel,” and “growler.” All may well be in common use, but I don't think I'd heard any of them before. (I had heard “fanny,” but not “fanny-fou-fah” per se.)

Meanwhile, Sarah Ditum, writing in the New Statesman, mentions “tuppence,” her young daughter's made-up word “nooni,” “foof,” and “fandando.” (Along with several negative slang terms.)

Noreen Malone, probably joking, mentions “Cave of Forgotten Dreams.” (Along with a few other more common ones I've seen before.)

And Sarah Mirk suggests “squiggly bits.”

(Found all of those linked from a Detroit Free Press blog post.)

One Response to “vagina et alia”

  1. Jed

    Just encountered another one: ladyflower.

    reply

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