Word O’ Day

From Guest WOD Blogger Corina:

Today’s WOD, which is entirely inappropriate for Christmas Eve, is houghmagandy.

Houghmagandy is a noun pronounced with a guttural gh, and it means adulterous sexual intercourse, but can also simply mean fornication.

This scintillating word comes from the Scots language. “Hough” is the hollow place behind human knees, but can also refer to a part of the thigh, or a hollow in general. The second part of the word is supposedly a corruption of “canty.” “Cant” means lively, and derives from the Latin “cantus,” which means edge. Lively thighs, eh?Nabokov fans may recognize this word from Pale Fire, which is a fantastic novel (fantastic meaning terrific, as opposed to: of, or relating to, unicorns and dragons).

She’ll be coming ’round the usage when she comes: After an impassioned and slightly tipsy debate with Ronald as to whether or not fellatio can be counted as houghmagandy, Henrietta unwittingly revealed more about her past than she intended, leaving Ronald to question how well he really knew his beloved.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Thanks Corina!