luzula: a Luzula pilosa, or hairy wood-rush (Default)
[personal profile] luzula
The awesome You Can't Say That. It's a list of words, when they were first used, and how they have changed in meaning.

For example, apparently "to have an orgasm" could mean "to throw a tantrum", and "to urinate" used to mean "to swim underwater". There's a hilarious quote from a actual newspaper article from the late 17th century, saying Yesterday, his majesty’s urinator, Mr. Curtis, gave a demonstration of his special urination techniques. Mr. Curtis was the Royal Navy's professional salvage diver.

*sniggers* Possibly I am twelve years old.

Link via this post about the historical usage of the word "fuck", which is also awesome.
Page generated Jan. 4th, 2026 10:24 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios