Re: how many bastards are there, anyway?
N.R. Mitchum (aj404@mail.lafn.org)
Thu, 05 Sep 1996 20:40:52 -0700
snark@swcp.com wrote:
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> What is the derivation of "put the horns on him," in reference to
> cuckolding someone? Is it from a play?
>..........
The OED entry is fascinating -- as much for what it says as for what
it implies.
That dictionary tells us the origin of the phrase is lost in the mist of
time; even the Greeks had a version of it, though the OED doesn't
credit them as the source.
It also gives us a rather eye-popping description of a medieval
practice: when a rooster was castrated, its spurs could be grafted
to the base of its comb, where they would grow like a pair of horns.
The OED accepts that "cuckold" comes from an old Germanic word
for "capon." A wide field for speculation opens here.
When posing with friends for a photo, have you ever stuck two finger
up behind the head of the person beside you? I wonder if this might
not go all the way back, somehow, to this phrase.
Men, stop pinching your knees together!
Nathan Mitchum [post&email]
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