etymology of "slut"

[Hannah Bell]

kind of interesting as the historic usages give the impression that the modern meaning didn't become entrenched until rather late -- which might imply something about changing (perceptions of) women's sexuality or women's social role as well.

it appears that "slut" didn't have the exclusive meaning of "loose woman" until 1700 or later, maybe as late as the 19th century.

which places that evolution in line with the development of modern capitalism in england.

so my guess would be that the evolution had something to do with increased pauperization & capitalist sex (sex for hire).

Mods, i broke up the paragraph to make it readable.

slut

c.1400, "a dirty, slovenly, or untidy woman," probably cognate with dialectal Ger. Schlutt "slovenly woman," dialectal Swed. slata "idle woman, slut," and Du. slodder "slut," but the ultimate origin is doubtful.

Chaucer uses sluttish (late 14c.) in reference to the appearance of an untidy man.

Also "a kitchen maid, a drudge" (mid-15c.; hard pieces in a bread loaf from imperfect kneading were called slut's pennies, 18c.).

Meaning "woman of loose character, bold hussy" is attested from mid-15c.; playful use of the word, without implication of loose morals, is attested from 1660s.

Our little girl Susan is a most admirable slut, and pleases us mightily. (Pepys, diary, Feb. 21, 1664)

Sometimes used 19c. as a euphemism for bitch to describe a female dog.

There is a group of North Sea Germanic words in sl- that mean "sloppy," and also "slovenly woman," and that tend to evolve toward "woman of loose morals" (cf. slattern, also English dial. slummock "a dirty, untidy, or slovenly person," 1861; M.Du. slore "a sluttish woman").

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=slut

[MrScorpio]

1. We need more "Bold Hussies" in this world

They know how to have fun

[truedelphi]

2. Thank you for the enjoyable word romp

Through history.

I am not sure Schultz is old enough to use any of it as an excuse - though some words change so quickly we older people can sometimes get away with it.

Like the word "Cool" went from meaning "responsible" - back in its native dialect from one of the African countries.

You had it together, and watched out for everyone - you were "cool." (Especially used in jazz circles - if you were pushing up the riff at the edges and moving it along but not overshadowing the other players, you were 'cool.'")

By the time my circle of friends and I were in high school, in the mid sixties -- any young person wanted to be called "cool."

Fast forward to the late eighties, and "cool" was derogatory, as in "Mom, you are so cool."

[Hannah Bell]

3. i didn't post it for schultz. just because i thought it was interesting,

as so often (including in these conversations) these terms are said to spring from patriarchal relations.

this one seems to be coincident with the rise of capitalism. interesting to me.

i'm out of it. i didn't know "cool" had changed meanings. i *still* think it means "groovy".

and there's another interesting etymological item: why was "cool" the word of the 50s/60s, while "hot" is the word of the millenium?

"cool" not particularly sexual, but "hot" is.

[Hannah Bell]

4. alternative definitions of "slut"

The British journalist Katharine Whitehorn wrote a famous 1963 article applying this meaning in The Observer: "Have you ever taken anything out of the dirty-clothes basket because it had become, relatively, the cleaner thing? Changed stockings in a taxi? Could you try on clothes in any shop, any time, without worrying about your underclothes? How many things are in the wrong room—cups in the study, boots in the kitchen? ... (this makes) you one of us: the miserable, optimistic, misunderstood race of sluts." This article prompted a flurry of correspondence, with many women writing in to describe their own acts of sluttishness.

Slut is also used as a slang term in the BDSM, polyamorous, and gay and bisexual communities.<9> With BDSM, polyamorous, and non-monogamous people, in usage taken from the book The Ethical Slut, the term has been used as an expression of choice to openly have multiple partners, and revel in that choice: "a slut is a person of any gender who has the courage to lead life according to the radical proposition that sex is nice and pleasure is good for you." A slut is a person who has taken control of their sexuality and has sex with whomever they choose, regardless of religious or social pressures or conventions to conform to a straight-laced monogamous lifestyle committed to one partner for life. The term has been "taken back" to express the rejection of the concept that government, society, or religion may judge or control one's personal liberties, and the right to control one's own sexuality.

British author Helen Fielding used the word in her Bridget Jones series to refer to slovenly or dirty habits, in the original sense still occasionally used in England: "Check plates and cutlery for tell-tale signs of sluttish washing up...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slut

[xchrom]

18. We use slut a lot - to both complimentary & derisive -

Sometimes @ the same time.

Gay men that is.

[socialist_n_TN]

25. And the middle paragraph defines MY definition for slut

Sexually Liberated, Ultra Talented. :)

I also think that it's interesting that it became fused with a sexually negative meaning around the rise of capitalism in England. Everything became about money. And it still is.

[LARED]

5. Websters 1828 Dictionary

Slut
SLUT, n.

1. A woman who is negligent of cleanliness, and who suffers her person, clothes, funiture, &c., to be dirty or in disorder.

2. A name of slight contempt for a woman.

http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/search/word,slut

[Hannah Bell]

6. so seems like the modern american sense of "slut" as exclusively meaning

promiscuous woman is of fairly recent origin. like circa 19th-20th century.

the female words in your 1820s dictionary refer either specifically to prostitution or to a general messiness/laziness....but not really to promiscuity as an aspect of character.

the male words refer specifically to promiscuity, excess, lack of self-control. & seems there were more words in use referring specifically to promiscuous *men* than there are today. what would the reason be for that?

interesting to speculate why the transition -- words about male lewdness go out of use as most words about female prostitution disappear, & words formerly about female messiness turn into words about female lewdness.

"punk" which meant a female prostitute begins to refer to the passive partner in a gay male relationship, then loses that meaning and becomes just a "punk" - young/inexperienced/non-powerful male.




in the same dictionary we have:

RAKE, n. A loose, disorderly, vicious man; a man addicted to lewdness and other scandalous vices.rake: A loose, disorderly, vicious man; a man addicted to lewdness and other scandalous vices.

DEBAUCHEE', n. A man given to intemperance, or bacchanalian excesses. But chiefly, a man habitually lewd.

RA'KEHELL, n. A lewd, dissolute fellow; a debauchee; a rake.

RA'KESHAME, n. A vile dissolute wretch.

LECH'ER, n. A man given to lewdness; one addicted, in an exorbitant degree, to the indulgence of the animal appetite, and an illicit commerce with females.

WHOREMASTER, n. One who practices lewdness

WHOREMONGER, n. The same as whoremaster.

***

WHORE, n. Hore. A harlot; a courtesan; a concubine; a prostitute

TROL'LOP, n. A stroller; a loiterer; a woman loosely dressed; a slattern.

SLAT'TERN, n. A woman who is negligent of her dress, or who suffers her clothes and furniture to be in disorder; one who is not neat and nice.

DOXY, n. A prostitute.

Your search (word => 'poxy') did not return any results.

PUNK, n. A prostitute; a strumpet. (interesting, because it evolved into a word meaning something like its present meaning but also male homosexual/the passive/female partner in such a pairing)

STRUMPET, n. A prostitute.

H`ARLOT, n. 1. A woman who prostitutes her body for hire; a prostitute; a common woman. 2. In Scripture, one who forsakes the true God and worships idols. 3. A servant; a rogue; a cheat.

CONCUBINE, n. 1. A woman who cohabits with a man, without the authority of a legal marriage; a woman kept for lewd purposes; a kept mistress. 2. A wife of inferior condition; a lawful wife, but not united to the man by the usual ceremonies, and of inferior condition. Such were Hagar and Keturah, the concubines of Abraham; and such concubines were allowed by the Roman laws.

COURTESAN, n. A prostitute; a woman who prostitutes herself for hire, especially to men of rank.

HUSS'Y, n. contracted from huswife,housewife. 1. A bad or worthless woman. It is used also ludicrously in slight disapprobation or contempt. Go, hussy, go. 2. An economist; a thrifty woman.


****

on another note:

cock (n.1)
"male chicken," O.E. cocc "male bird," O.Fr. coc (12c., Mod.Fr. coq), O.N. kokkr, all of echoic origin. O.E. cocc was a nickname for "one who strutted like a cock," thus a common term in the Middle Ages for a pert boy, used of scullions, apprentices, servants, etc.

A common personal name till c.1500, it was affixed to Christian names as a pet diminutive, cf. Wilcox, Hitchcock, etc.

Slang sense of "penis" is attested since 1610s (but cf. pillicock "penis," from c.1300); cock-teaser is from 1891.

pillock 1530s, variant of pillicock (see cock (n.1)). Meaning “stupid person” is attested by 1967.

c-word:

"female intercrural foramen," or, as some 18c. writers refer to it, "the monosyllable," M.E. cunte "female genitalia," akin to O.N. kunta, from P.Gmc. *kunton, of uncertain origin. Some suggest a link with L. cuneus "wedge," others to PIE base *geu- "hollow place," still others to PIE *gwen-, root of queen and Gk. gyne "woman." The form is similar to L. cunnus "female pudenda" (also, vulgarly, "a woman"), which is likewise of disputed origin, perhaps lit. "gash, slit," from PIE *sker- "to cut," or lit. "sheath," from PIE *kut-no-, from base *(s)keu- "to conceal, hide."

First known reference in English is said to be c.1230 Oxford street name Gropecuntlane (attested through late 14c.), presumably a haunt of prostitutes. Avoided in public speech since 15c.; considered obscene since 17c.

(interesting -- not considered obscene before the 1600s. again, the association with the beginnings of capitalism -)

Under "MONOSYLLABLE" Farmer lists 552 synonyms from English slang and literature before launching into another 5 pages of them in French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Dutch cognate de kont means "a bottom, an arse," but Dutch also has attractive poetic slang ways of expressing this part, such as liefdesgrot, lit. "cave of love," and vleesroos "rose of flesh."

Alternative form cunny is attested from c.1720 but is certainly much earlier and forced a change in the pronunciation of coney (q.v.), but it was good for a pun while coney was still the common word for "rabbit": "A pox upon your Christian cockatrices! They cry, like poulterers' wives, 'No money, no coney.' " (Philip Massinger: "The Virgin-Martyr," Act I, Scene 1, 1622)

berk
"fool," 1936, abbreviation of Berkshire Hunt, rhyming slang for c--t but typically applied only to contemptible persons, not to the body part. This is not an objective, anatomical term, neither does it imply coitus. It connects with that extension of meaning of the unprintable, a fool, or a person whom one does not like. ("Dictionary of Rhyming Slang," 1960)




I'm beginning to think the disparaging terms for female sexuality in the modern sense really came into being in the late 1800s/early 1900s.

[ejpoeta]

7. i guess that would make me one since i hate cleaning and no matter how much cleaning i do

my house looks like it hasn't been cleaned.

[LuvNewcastle]

8. Looks like the modern meaning of "slut"

is likely tied to the word "dirty." People call certain jokes 'dirty' or 'clean.' The figurative meaning of 'dirty' was applied to certain women and the modern meaning of 'slut' was born.

[Hannah Bell]

9. but the modern meaning of 'slut' is very modern indeed. and the older meaning was

current as recently as the early 60s in britain --

The British journalist Katharine Whitehorn wrote a famous 1963 article applying this meaning in The Observer:<8> "Have you ever taken anything out of the dirty-clothes basket because it had become, relatively, the cleaner thing? Changed stockings in a taxi? Could you try on clothes in any shop, any time, without worrying about your underclothes? How many things are in the wrong room—cups in the study, boots in the kitchen? ... you one of us: the miserable, optimistic, misunderstood race of sluts." This article prompted a flurry of correspondence, with many women writing in to describe their own acts of sluttishness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slut

[MineralMan]

10. Then there's the word "slattern," which is related.

It's rarely used, though, today. There are many negative words and slurs for women, and fewer for men. Our patriarchal society, I guess.

[Hannah Bell]

11. huh?

[LoZoccolo]

12. Your explanation in terms of capitalism does not acknowledge the possibility that

other words that have meanings similar to our use of "slut" may have existed.

[Hannah Bell]

15. agreed.

[Dreamer Tatum]

13. Hannah - I just farted. Can you blame that on capitalism, too? nt

[Hannah Bell]

16. only *your* farts, dreamer.

[Dreamer Tatum]

17. Touche

Well played

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. Fascinating.... I love Etymologyy... BTW Fascinating has a penis connection

The English word "fascinate" ultimately derives from Latin fascinum and the related verb fascinare, In ancient Roman religion and magic, the fascinus or fascinum was the embodiment of the divine phallus. The word can refer to the deity himself (Fascinus), to phallus effigies and amulets, and to the spells used to invoke his divine protection

[LuvNewcastle]

20. Isn't "fasces" the word that "fascism" comes from?

The "fasces" was a bundle of sticks tied together with the head of an ax on top. It was used in Imperial Rome, Mussolini, and is on the back of our dime.

[Hannah Bell]

22. interesting. probably a connection, i'd guess, something along the lines

of the gods binding the people into a nation, etc.

[MicaelS]

27. Lots more places than just our dime

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasces

The fasces in the United States

[yawnmaster]

19. Drudge is a slut! eom

[yawnmaster]

21. the correct response to being called a slut is..."you pompous ass". eom

[slutticus]

23. This is sexist.

I'm a slut. And i'm a male.

[BOG PERSON]

24. n/t

[Viking 1]

26. A lot of English words have acquired new meaning over the centuries

"Fag," for instance, denoted a "weak end" (as in a tug-of-war) or "weakling" in general: It had nothing to do with sexual orientation.

[Hannah Bell]

28. or to tire...or a bit of kindling wood. small/weak = general theme