cunt

From the Middle English cunte ("female genitals") which is akin to the Old Norse kunta and the Old Frisian, Middle Low German, and Middle Dutch kunte which are from the Germanic kunton.

Cunt a declaration of independence by Inga Muscio 

This book is about the history of the word, the stigma that surrounds the word and the body part. It strives to bring about an "understanding of, and reconciliation with - what it means to have a cunt." The exciting story telling style is what makes this book so wonderful. But there is also tons of great information along the way. She does have a few opinions that will be considered extreme by some but she readily admits that they are not for everyone. Basically she wants you to get the most pleasure out of your cunt as possible and learn what it has to teach you in your everyday life. This is also a great book for open minded guys who aren't freaked out about talk of periods and feminist ideas. I highly recommend you run out and buy a copy now.

The following excerpt takes place when the author's cousin's seven year old daughter (Mademoiselle Precious) comes to stay with her and her "Musical concubine" for a week.

An excerpt from Cunt

After a few minutes, Mlle. Precious says, "Everybody plays with their wahchee?"

My heart leaped in my chest. Oh, how I smiled inside.

"Yeah. Everybody."

"Do you?"

"Yup."

"Does your musical concubine?"

"Yeah."

"My mom?"

"Probably. I mean, I would imagine. Just about everybody does, Precious. And it's perfectly fine if you do too. Even if people tell you it's bad, they're just scared or stupid. It's not bad at all and everybody plays with their wahchee."

She laughed crazy, absolutely thrilled, and yelled "Everybody plays with their wahchee?"

I screamed "Everybody plays with their wahchee!"

Cunt a declaration of independence
Copyright 2002 by Inga Muscio
Foreword Copyright 2002 by Betty Dodson
Introduction Copyright 2002 by Derrick Jensen

ISBN #1-58005-015-8
Published by Seal Press
An imprint of Avalon Publishing Group Inc.
161 William Street, 16th floor
New York, NY 10038

• As a noun, not always derogatory, referring to either the female vulva or vagina (note: these are two separate things!) - e.g. 'nothing like a warm, moist cunt'.
• As an insult; the actual word when used as an insult probably means different things to different people. e.g. 'You miserable cunt!'. For my own part, I think that it gets used as an insult because it is obscene, forbidden, and has a meaty, 'chunky' sound. When this insult is used around me, it appears to mean, roughly, asshole, bastard, or prick - but being stronger than any of those.
• As a placeholder, referring to a person of somewhat humble status - e.g. 'Hey! Which cunts' stolen my beer?' or 'Don't worry, the cunt'll be along later'.

It ain't rude!

The word 'cunt' is a leftover from pre-Norman English. I won't go into detail - I'll save the Evolution of the Language for another writeup - so all you need to know is this:

When the Normans invaded England in 1066, they spoke Norman French. The people of England spoke English, a language very close to German. Over time, the ruling classes, who were Norman, and the rest of England, the English, combined their languages. Because the Norman words, and the Latin writings, of the educated and ruling classes were considered cooler than English, Latin terms like 'vagina' were used instead of good old 'cunt'. Later, the Enlish words were not just very lower-class, they were considered rude.

Cunt originally meant simply 'vagina' and the shift to obscenity is a confusing path to follow. In a poem I once read, possibly by John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, a scathing look at the haut ton, contained the phrase "...who fucked who and who's a proper cunt". So for the upper classes, at least, this word was impolite, as was 'fuck'.

However, in D. H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover", the word cunt is used by Mellors, the lover, in a non-offensive way. He uses it to mean 'vagina' and also 'having sex' or 'making love'. He is from the north of England, and quite 'lower-class', and for him, the word cunt represented intimacy with Connie through sex.

This is the briefest account of the word cunt I can give. If you found this interesting, consult a history of Linguistics and a good cultural History of England. Read "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and consult some of the stranger English poets.

1st June 2001: Of further note is the use of the word 'quaint' in English literature. This word is often used as a pun for 'cunt'. For example, in Andrew Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress', the phrase 'and thy quaint honour turn'd to dust' refers to her cunt. Other poets to consult on the matter include Shakespeare, John Donne and Jonathan Swift.

from L. cunnus "sheath" > IE *kut-no- > (s)keu- "conceal, cover"

see also pudendum, vulva.

From my book Latin Sexual Terms, which is a rather in depth book about just that. According to the book, cunt is derived from cunnus, with Norman-French as the intermediary, not Old English.