Where do you keep your cock?
April 4, 2008 – 8:53 amWhere did the slang term cock come from? Seriously, did it come from the term for rooster or did it have a slightly stranger origin, perhaps found in fashion? I think maybe, just maybe we can find its roots in a woman’s handbag.
Codpiece – Chances are good that if you have heard this term, you have heard it used to indicate a renaissance era piece of costuming which sits over a man’s genitals. It is usually padded and accents the bulge of that region of the body. It has also been used to denote the armor, which protects that area of the body. Ah, but before that little bit of thankfully forgotten fashion the word indicated a bag that women wore atop their breeches (leggings) in which they kept things such as money, handkerchiefs, and similar items. Basically, when women wore the codpiece they kept their valuables within. When men wore the codpiece, well they kept their valuables within.
As the codpiece became more fashion than function, it became ornate. Often times, the family crest would be embossed on it perhaps to say, here in rests the family jewels. For a time, many were incredibly ornate. So much so that they were referred to as a cockscomb (AKA coxcomb) to denote their ornate nature and perhaps because the term codpiece had begun to be associated more with armor.
Previously, the word cockscomb referred to a cap worn by professional fools. Its name based on the idea that the thing looked like what you would find on top of a rooster’s head. The word comb in cockscomb indicating a ridge. In the case of the cockscomb, although more widely used to indicate a helmet or hat with a rooster like ridge on it, the word doesn’t refer strictly to a helmet or hat. Just any ridge resembling what you find on a rooster’s head.
So, for a time these ornate codpieces were referred to as cockscombs and the term codpiece was a reference to a piece of armor that covered the cockscomb. It does seem possible that the term cockscomb is where the term slang term for the penis came from.
After all, how hard would it be to misunderstand what an English chap had said and though he was referring to his “Cocks Home”?
3 Responses to “Where do you keep your cock?”
lol.. Got a good.. chuckle from this post..at times the English language leaves me speech less…take the word “fag” for instances..from what I understand it originally denotes being a ciggarette (sp) When it is used today it is usually a good indicater that some one is on their way to jail for a possible hate crime..go figure..
By gina on Apr 4, 2008
gina - I think in England the word fag still means ciggarette. Previously, it meant a bundle of wood / sticks / trigs that was tossed on the fire. I - do not know - if it is true or not, but reportedly it came to mean a gay person when the Church was fond of tossing them on fires as well. Again, I absolutly do not know if this is true because it comes from neopagan pulp paperbacks and I have come to not trust their version of history.
Maybe, just maybe, women smoked cigarettes and men smoked cigars for a time. If that is true, then maybe gay folk were said to smoke fags as a way to emasculate them? Ok, it doesnt sound very pleasant but it sounds a lot nicer than considering gay folk firewood.
By A.J. Drew on Apr 4, 2008