Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A Girl in Every Port, and A Port in Every Girl



“A girl in every port, and a port in every girl.” -- Anon

I overheard a Squid say that to a Grunt when I was an ankle-biter. It took me years to get the joke. It may say something about my predilections that I believed the “port in every girl” was of the fermented grape variety long before I realized it referred to the hoo-ha, the velvet purse, the tuna trap, the creaming vortex. (Jebus, really? A vortex? One word: Kegel.)

“Why, she’s crazier than a Cooter.” -- Mom

Bless my mother’s Ab-a-lama heart and her quirky sayings. Die-hard Dukes of Hazzard fans usually nod when that particular favorite is uttered. Everyone else snickers. I was in high school when I had to explain Harry Cooter was not the mischievous mechanic’s cousin, and should anyone ask if she’d like to visit Cooter’s Garage, she ought to politely decline.  Her mildly disconcerted expression prompted me to further dance around the direct translation. Carpet cleaning? Pearl Fishing? Kissing the bunny? Tasting the taco?

“Generally speaking, it is in love as it is in war, where the longest weapon carries it.” – John Leland, Fanny Hill

I love euphemisms and innuendo. My hat’s off to the slyly bawdy. There is a real art to describing anatomy and sex in ways that do little more than titillate while falling far short of being vulgar. Sure, time goes a long way to neutralizing the once profane. The evolution of language allows us to view certain words and phrases without affront. We look back on tawdry Victorian-esq prose with giggle and a grin. Bubbies? Arses? Glimpses of stockings? Tributes to Venus? These days, even Byron is considered … tame.

“Hey, look at the tits on that one.”
“You think his sausage comes in its original wrapper?”
“I bet a pinkie could get stuck up that ass.”

If some second cousins of those comments were directed at me, I’d want to bathe with Brillo and brine. As a writer, I use that type of speech to make the character come across as a jackass.  As a chick very much in touch with her disrespectful crotch-grabbing self, I can loll in the gutters with the best of ‘em. Why not? It’s easy to be base and crass. Does that make me a hypocrite? Nah. I’m aware that saying those things makes me an asshat, which is why I choose my timing and audience carefully. I’m not planning on banging, bumping fuzzies, donning a hunchback, or reversing the cowboy with any of my fellow cretins.

“His penis twitched under close inspection.”
“Her vagina was pink and moist.”
 “His perineum was softer than his testicles.”

Gee, thanks, doc. I’ll grab my prescription for that frontal lobotomy on the way out. Clinical speech slams down an emotional barrier. It forces distance – something that’s extremely useful when counting the ceiling tiles at one’s OBGyn’s office. Male anatomy doesn’t have as many, erm, distancing terms – Penis, scrotum, glans, and testis. Okay, okay, I’ll give you Corpus cavernosum and Corpus spongiosum (both of which sound like some sort of Zombie birth-control). The parts of a woman’s genitalia are clearly named by men who never wanted the words uttered in public. Let’s start with Vagina and go from there -- Vulva, Prepuce of Clitoris, Pudendal Cleft, Frenulum, Urethral Orifice, etc. Give me a prim quim over a Swedish car any day.

“I'd like to stop with my baby tonight, and blow my top with my baby tonight,
but I'd be a flop with my baby tonight, cause it's too darn hot”
– Cole Porter, “Too Darn Hot” from Kiss Me, Kate

Props go to the artists of language. Yes, I’m ranking songwriters/lyricists right up there with poets and novelists. The masters are the ones who can cram three or five different meanings into a single phrase. Broadway song-meisters are some of the best at this. Rock and Rollers, well, they’re pretty good at taking slang and adding a sexual twist.

“Shake for me girl. I want to be your backdoor man.” – Robert Plant, Whole Lotta Love

Come on, we all know that means without having to think too hard, right? RIGHT? Well, what if Bon Scott made a similar offer? Is it really a similar offer?

“Pick up the phone, leave her alone/ It’s time you made a stand
 For a fee, I’m happy to be / Your backdoor man” – AC/DC, Dirty Deeds

This, this is where euphemisms get really entertaining. If you think you’ve hired a hitman and a strapping dude with an affinity for anal sex arrives ... well, guess who’s going to get the bigger surprise. The guy with the stiffer package? The pistol with the longer barrel? The shooter who blues their gun better? The one who’s quicker on the draw or slower?

Come on down to the gutters and spend awhile getting in touch with your sniggering youth. There’s plenty of room, and new euphemisms just waiting to be formed.  Pride isn’t welcome, prudes either.

“Whoever named it ‘necking’ was a poor judge of anatomy.” – Groucho Marx

13 comments:

  1. LOL! My, this has certainly been an educational week around here. ;)

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  2. SPLENDID! Fascinatingly full of whatever-you're-drinking-is-about-to-come-out-your-nose lines. You cracked me up. Especially the 'counting the ceiling tiles at the OB/GYN.' HA!

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  3. This old song is one of my faves:

    I like oysters, lobsters, too.
    I like the taste of all the fish food.
    When I get home late at night,
    I get my favorite dish: fish!

    Hold back, hold back!
    I want some seafood, Mama!
    Shrimps and rice,
    They're very nice.

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  4. Linda G., They say there's a lot to be learned from a git what knows her way 'round the block. ;)

    Linda R., Who needs a netti-pot, eh? Btw, 8.5 tiles x 13.25. In case you're wondering.

    Jeffe, if you wanna talk fish, try this video from Great Big Sea -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXPzMXN3hAg

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  5. Bwah!

    Fabulous post today, KAK! And I loves me some dirty song lyrics - I think Led Zeppelin's The Lemon Song is a good one (Squeeze me, babe, 'till the juice runs down my leg? Erm. Yes.)

    Though, to be honest, ZZ Top has them all beat - between Tush, Pearl Necklace (yeah, that means what you think it does) and Tube Snake Boogie (also a little back door action, apparently).

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  6. Allison-not trying to be an asshole here, but this isn't even a full list of ACDC songs and...well...the titles are a hoot in and of themselves!!! HAHAhAHA
    Anything Goes
    Back In Black
    Backseat Confidential
    Beating Around the Bush
    Big Balls
    Big Gun
    Big Jack
    Caught with your Pants Down
    Chase the Ace
    Come and Get It
    Cover you in Oil
    Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
    Deep in the Hole
    Flick of the Switch
    Girls' Got Rhythm
    Giving the Dog a Bone
    Go Down
    Got you by the Balls
    Hard As A Rock
    Heatseeker
    Inject the Venom
    Kissin Dynamite
    Let's Get it Up
    Let's Make it
    Love at first feel
    Love Bomb
    Love Hungry Man
    Night Prowler
    Problem Child
    Put the Finger on you
    Rock 'N Roll Train
    Ruff Stuff
    Shake your foundations
    Shake a leg
    She's Got Balls
    Shot of Love
    Sink the Pink
    Squealer
    T.N.T.
    The Jack
    Thunderstruck
    Touch Too Much
    Up to my neck in you
    What's Next To The Moon
    Whole Lotta Rosie
    You Shook Me All Night Long

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  7. Fabulous post, KAK! Yay for bawdy.

    And I confess that I did not know what a Corpus spongiosum was until I looked it up! :-S

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  8. *bows to Linda*

    Thou hast vanquished me, milady.

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  9. And to think, most of ACDC's songs can be played with only 3-4 chords EACH. A testament to the variety of things you can do with bar-chords and a dirty mind. BTW-LOVE LOVE LOVE the ZZTop songs you listed. :-D

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  10. Oh, Marcella, we do love corrupting you!

    AP & Linda: I know tomorrow is going to include some sort of rock-n-roll tribute, but I couldn't help myself as Aerosmith's "Big Ten Inch" was playing in the background while I wrote this blog.

    Alayna, you have to watch out for Corpse Sponges. If they don't get enough blood...

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  11. "Alayna, you have to watch out for Corpse Sponges. If they don't get enough blood..."

    In keeping with today's bawdy humor...is that a condition that can be fixed with the judicious application of a cock ring?

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  12. I just - oh - my - god.
    KAK, you leave me speechless, and like Linda G., with my nasal passages well cleaned out.

    Also - Marcella - I share some of your naivite.

    Sigh. ~wonders how to begin to write Saturday's post~

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