History Main / GetTheeToANunnery

** Genesis 24:9, Abraham's servant swears by holding Abraham's '''package''': ''"And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter."'' Swearing a promise on your father's genitals (yes, you were expected to cup [[{{Pun}} his family jewels]]) was considered the most sacred of oaths in Jewish society, and in this case, Abraham was a father figure to his servant.
*** The Latin word ''testicula'', which means ''little witness''.

** "Horns" shows up in this sense in George Martin's ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''.
*** It's also used for symbolism regarding house Baratheon, whose sigil is [[AnimalMotifs is a stag.]] Robert Baratheon's wife Cersei [[spoiler:cheats on him with her own brother]], Renly Baratheon's wife Margaery [[spoiler:eventually marries two of his rivals, Joffrey and Tommen; Renly himself cheats on Margaery with her brother Loras, but she doesn't seem to mind too much.]] Stannis's wife Selyse doesn't cheat on him at all, but the Lannisters create propaganda saying she did.

*** In this case, quite possibly the Simpsons episode is referencing Joyce's Ulysses, in which a cuckoo clock chimes three times when a character realizes he's being cuckolded.

** Genesis 24:9, Abraham's servant swears by holding Abraham's '''package''': ''"And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter."'' Swearing a promise on your father's genitals (yes, you were expected to cup [[IncrediblyLamePun his family jewels]]) was considered the most sacred of oaths in Jewish society, and in this case Abraham was a father figure to his servant.

* ''Series/TippingTheVelvet'': Quite a few examples, most notably the title. "Tipping the velvet" doesn't seem like something dirty... but historically, it meant cunnilingus.

* A very peculiar example of this is the {{Misaimed|Fandom}} {{Hatedom}} about the story "[[RascallyRabbit Br'er Rabbit]] and the Tar Baby", who insist that "tar baby" is some kind of anti-African racial slur. As a matter of fact, it refers to [[StickySituation a moppet of tar that is used to catch Br'er Rabbit]]. The story itself was ''invented'' by Africans, and is in fact a re-telling of an African mythological tale about Anansi, with the only change being to replace Anansi with Br'er Rabbit.
** Indeed, a "tarbaby" just meant any sticky situation, not even referring to an Afro-American or African. If a politician had a scandal in the Old South, it would often be called his "tarbaby." They were referring to the sticky thing you couldn't get rid of. If anything racial, it was cultural appropriation on part of the white people for adapting and using that African legend.

** It still sometimes means [[ADateWithRosiePalms a certain sort of rubbing]].

** And a line in ''ComicBook/TheSandman: A Game of You'', originally published in 1991:

** That's even worse than is implied so far! Kissing ass has a certain set of meanings in the modern era, but in those days it was the sign of a witch or warlock's devotion to and service to the Devil. In other words, Petruchio was literally demonizing her.

*** This would, of course, be referring to women having ("bearing") children, and being expected to hold ("bear") her husband's weight during sex.

** And another one, from Hamlet's conversation with Polonius--in the same conversation in which he makes reference to Jephthah, he calls Polonius a "fishmonger"--a euphemism for a "pimp", referring to a similarity in scent between fish and female genitalia. Which is, of course, a clue that Hamlet already suspects Polonius of using his own daughter to get to Hamlet.

** Of course, "willy" is still slang for a penis. The Creator/ReducedShakespeareCompany made gleeful use of this DoubleEntendre in ''[[Theatre/TheCompleteWorksOfWilliamShakespeareAbridged The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)]]''.

* And then there are some lines in Shakespeare the meaning of which is so obscure that even the world's foremost experts couldn't tell you what the hell they even mean. King Lear's baffling exclamation about "a good block", for example, seems to mean nothing at all as far as most editors can reckon. These problems are exacerbated by the fact that Shakespeare never published definitive editions of his own works, and the versions that exist today are often incomplete, damaged, or suffered under over-zealous early editors.

*** Don't forget the Latin word ''testicula'', which means ''little witness''.

** Ezekiel 16:25, Ezekiel compares Jerusalem to a prostitute who spreads eagle to every man who walks by: ''"thou hast opened thy feet to every one that ped by, and multiplied thy whoredoms."'' In Biblical Hebrew, the same word is used for "feet" and "legs". That pretty much preserves the euphemism in modern language! Among popular Protestant translations, the NASB renders this "spread your legs," while the NIV and RSV have "offering your body" and "yourself," respectively. The Catholic NAB has "spreading your legs," and the Jerusalem Bible has "give your body"… "to every [[HaveAGayOldTime comer]]."

** Thus the Description of the Seraphim, whose final set of wings shield their "feet," was actually referring to them shielding their genitals out of modesty. Of course, considering that angels aren't supposed to ''have'' genitals raises interesting questions...
*** [[FridgeLogic Not to mention that without having eaten from the Tree they shouldn't have any sense of modesty either. I guess this is referring to their actual feet now?]]

* The Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs, depending on your translation) consists entirely of explicit love poetry. Taste of my garden, indeed.

** "My beloved put his hand by the hole [of the door] and my bowels were moved for him." That has to actually mean more than it lets on. [[note]]No, the speaker didn't actually ''soil herself''--"Bowels" was basically Hebrew for ''"heart."'' At the same time… he has his hands inside her "hole" and her insides "moved".

** Ever wonder why Buford Tannen kept referring to Marty as "dude" in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII''? During that time period, "dude" basically meant CityMouse (hence, a "dude ranch" is a ranch for "dudes", i.e. tourists). Considering Marty is from TheEighties, it's odd that he doesn't {{lampshade|Hanging}} how that word changed. For the record, "dude" had acquired its current meaning, at least among hipsters, by the 1960s. The 1969 movie ''Film/EasyRider'' {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this.

** This was alluded to in a scene in ''Hamlet'', in which Hamlet wigs out on Ophelia and accuses her of a number of various nasty, sexual things. One of those things was "Men know what monsters you make of us!", which of course refers to the cuckold's horns.

** Apparently, this is present in alien languages as well, as mentioned in an episode of ''Series/StargateSG1'', where the Jaffa word "Kelmar'tokim" is literally translated as "revenge by the wearer of horns" and is first mentioned when Teal'c finds out that his wife had their marriage annulled to marry a friend of his. Justified, since the Jaffa are TransplantedHumans, whose language has probably evolved from an Earth one. However, the word is used in another episode to mean a more generic revenge without reference to any sexual betrayal (namely, Teal'c swears Kelmar'tokim on the Goa'uld who murdered his father).

** Also averted in Russian, where the word for cuckold is "rogonosets", which literally translates as "wearer of horns".

** It meant this up until '87, if ''The Monster Squad'' is anything to be trusted. "Of course WolfMan wore pants. It was the Forties! Otherwise you'd see his... you know. Wolfdork." And who could forget "We were wondering if you had ever... um... to what extent you had... been dorked."

** It referred to the CampGay favorites of [[DepravedHomosexual certain]] [[DepravedBisexual courtiers]] (and even of the king sometimes) called "mignons", which today means "cute". Go figure.

* Also related to meanings in living memory but no longer current" Music/SteelyDan's "The Fez" (off 1976's ''The Royal Scam'') is basically making fun of a guy who "won't do it without the fez on," the "fez" being 1970s slang for a condom.[[note]]Yes, there is some ValuesDissonance here; but you have to remember that in the 70s, (1) there was a wide array of easily-available, effective contraceptives (the pill, the IUD, the diaphragm...) and (2) so far as anyone knew, all [=STIs=] either were curable (antibiotic resistance wasn't on anyone's radar) or would not be prevented by condom use anyway, so insisting on a condom was seen as unhip and a mark that you didn't trust your partner. During this era, condoms were basically for one-night stands (because, you know, you can't necessarily trust whoever you met at the bar 100%) and horny teenagers (the more effective contraceptives requiring a gynecologist's prescription/fitting, which your average teenage girl couldn't get). HIV's appearance at the end of the decade changed all that in a hurry...[[/note]]

* A very peculiar example of this is the {{Misaimed|Fandom}} {{Hatedom}} about the story "[[RascallyRabbit Br'er Rabbit]] and the Tar Baby", who insist that "tar baby" is some kind of anti-African racial slur. As a matter of fact, it literally refers to [[StickySituation a moppet of tar that is used to catch Br'er Rabbit]]. The story itself was ''invented'' by Africans, and is in fact a re-telling of an African mythological tale about Anansi, with the only change being to replace Anansi with Br'er Rabbit.

* Several eighteenth-century English {{Bawdy Song}}s are all about TheGrandHunt for the "coney," which dictionaries will tell you is an old word for rabbit. The alternate spelling "cunny" is still used today, though pretty much never in reference to rabbits.

:: Chances are that Chick felt the need for that hilarious aside because he heard theories that the crimes of the mob weren't necessarily homosexuality and he wanted everyone to be damned sure that it ''was''. Yeah. Never mind that Sodom's crimes were a) [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape]], not sex, and b) violating [[SacredHospitality the laws of hospitality]], per Ezekiel 16:49 and several other places…

** Chances are that Chick felt the need for that hilarious aside because he heard theories that the crimes of the mob weren't necessarily homosexuality and he wanted everyone to be damned sure that it ''was''. Yeah. Never mind that Sodom's crimes were a) [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape]], not sex, and b) violating [[SacredHospitality the laws of hospitality]], per Ezekiel 16:49 and several other places…

Creator/{{Shakespeare}} is probably the most common exemplar of this trope, both because he wrote [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance a long time ago]] and because he had a filthy streak wider than the [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI Queen's]] farthingale (at least by the standards of the time). There was also no such thing as a "sensitive" listener who could not stand to hear a dirty joke in his day (except the Puritans, but they considered theatre itself to be sinful). The Queen's (and later King's) censors cared more about sedition and blasphemy than sexual or scatological humor. This is how the awful puns in ''Henry V'' were allowed to be used while seemingly mild oaths like "Gadzooks" (God's hooks, or the nails that held Jesus to the cross) were banned.

** No one actually knows what "pop goes the weasel" is supposed to mean. One theory cites evidence that, in ancient Cockney slang, "pop" meant "pawn" (as in "pawnbroker") and "weasel" meant "coat". Thus, according to this theory, "pop goes the weasel" means that the speaker has gone broke and must now sell his coat for money. Another theory suggests that "weasel" refers to a spinner's weasel, which was a mechanical device used for measuring yarn in the 19th century. This device made a "popping" sound after the correct length of yarn was measured. And then there's the unexciting theory that "pop goes the weasel" was never meant to be anything other than whimsical nonsense. Nevertheless, this may be the correct theory. Folklorists Iona and Peter Opie found that no one seemed to know what "pop goes the weasel" meant even when the song first became popular in the 1850s. If you're wondering what any of this has to do with monkeys or mulberry bushes, those lyrics weren't added until later.

* Bizarrely, and probably unintentionally, used in ''Film/NineteenFortyOne''. In a deleted scene, Sgt. Tree says he's going to "ream" Sitarski for vanishing during tank maintenance. The common usage of 'ream', to mean 'rebuke', didn't come into American vernacular until 1950. In 1941, however, 'ream' was just coming into usage as a vulgar slang term for anal sex.

* Any time the word "horns" shows up in Elizabethan English (particularly in ''Theatre/TheMerryWivesOfWindsor''), it's usually a reference to adultery. To cheat on your husband was to make him a "cuckold," a reference to cuckoos, which lay eggs in other birds' nests to raise. A cuckolded man is said to have cuckold's horns, which are actually a reference to stags, who can lose their mate if they are defeated by another male. If a man is said to have horns, it means his wife is sleeping around.

** When "Lucy Locket lost her pocket", a "pocket" was a detachable pouch women wore under their skirts and over their petticoats. Such a pocket is visible in [[http://www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/volume6/images/may/tightlacing_lg.jpg this painting]].

** This also puts the Wiki/TVTropes phrase "Administrivia/GetKnown" in a whole new light...

* In the old English ballad [[http://www.mysongbook.de/msb/songs/f/foggydw1.html "Foggy Foggy Dew",]] one of the possible meanings of "foggy dew" is a euphemism for virginity or the {{bogeyman}}, and that the girl's sudden distress came about from an overwhelming desire for the young man. Another verse of the song, according to Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foggy_Dew_(English_song) goes as follows:]]

Not to be confused with LockedAwayInAMonastery or TakingTheVeil, where someone literally goes to an actual, non-brothel nunnery.

* Also related to meanings in living memory but no longer current" Music/SteelyDan's "The Fez" (off 1976's ''The Royal Scam'') is basically making fun of a guy who "won't do it without the fez on," the "fez" being 1970s slang for a condom.[[note]]Yes, there is some ValuesDissonance here; but you have to remember that in the 70s, (1) there was a wide array of easily-available, effective contraceptives (the pill, the IUD, the diaphragm...) and (2) so far as anyone knew, all [=STIs=] either were curable (antibiotic resistance wasn't on anyone's radar) or would not be prevented by condom use anyway, so insisting on a condom was seen as unhip and a mark that you didn't trust your partner. During this era, condoms were basically for one-night stands (because, you know, you can't necessarily trust whoever you met at the bar 100%) and horny teenagers (the more effective contraceptives requiring a gynecologist's prescription/fitting). HIV's appearance at the end of the decade changed all that in a hurry...[[/note]]

* Also related to meanings in living memory but no longer current" Music/SteelyDan's "The Fez" (off 1976's ''The Royal Scam'') is basically making fun of a guy who "won't do it without the fez on," the "fez" being 1970s slang for a condom.[[note]]Yes, there is some ValuesDissonance here; but you have to remember that in the 70s, (1) there was a wide array of easily-available, effective contraceptives (the pill, the IUD, the diaphragm...) and (2) so far as anyone knew, all [=STIs=] either were curable (antibiotic resistance wasn't on anyone's radar) or would not be prevented by condom use anyway, so insisting on a condom was seen as unhip and a mark that you didn't trust your partner. HIV's appearance at the end of the decade changed all that in a hurry...[[/note]]

* Also related to meanings in living memory but no longer current" Music/SteelyDan's "The Fez" (off ''The Royal Scam'') is basically making fun of a guy who "won't do it without the fez on," the "fez" being 1970s slang for a condom.[[note]]Yes, there is some ValuesDissonance here; but you have to remember that in the 70s, (1) there was a wide array of easily-available, effective contraceptives (the pill, the IUD, the diaphragm...) and (2) so far as anyone knew, all [=STIs=] either were curable (antibiotic resistance wasn't on anyone's radar) or would not be prevented by condom use anyway, so insisting on a condom was seen as unhip and a mark that you didn't trust your partner. HIV's appearance at the end of the decade changed all that in a hurry...[[/note]]

* In ''Theatre/KingLear'' Edmund's line "Yours in the ranks of death!" is actually a Elizabethan era euphemism or pun for an orgasm or sex in general. "Die" was a common English euphemism for "orgasm" well into the 18th century, probably stemming from the French euphemism ''la petite mort'', "the little death." Shakespeare loved the phrase "I die in your lap"--he uses it in ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' and in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'', where Benedick tells Beatrice he "will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy sight." Also in the same play, Benedick says he was told Beatrice was "sick for him" (i.e. in love with him), leading Beatrice to reply that ''she'' was told Benedick was "well-nigh dead for her."

...Wait, but what does "farthingale" mean when it's ''not'' an innuendo?[[note]]It was apparently a "hooped petticoat or circular pad of fabric around the hips, formerly worn under women's skirts to extend and shape them." [[Main/AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle Now you know.]][[/note]]

Not to be confused with LockedAwayInAMonastery or TakingTheVeil, where someone literally goes to a nunnery.

[[folder: The Bible]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder: Other Literature]]

[[folder: Other Theater]]

[[folder: Other Word Shifts]]

--->'''Sir Andrew:''' [[WhatAnIdiot Her "C"s, her "U"s, aNd her "T"s?]] [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Why that?]]

* In Shakespeare's time, "thing" being a euphemism for a dick, "nothing" or "no-thing" was also a euphemism for a vagina. Many plays make use of this term, often to pun or joke.

* "Wit" was a slang term for "dick" at the time and appears in this fashion a few times: