Lexical sexual harassment – In English and Hebrew

The most innocent phrase can turn into a sexual double-entendre if speakers so wish and understand.  The classic example is the line “what knockers” in Young Frankenstein. This human preoccupation with sex has an everchanging influence on the words we use.  Whether we stop using them, consider their use carefully and or ensure their innocence, it affects our lexical choice.

In English, the word gay once only met happy and could be used without second thought.  The sexual identity aspect of the word has all but eliminated use of its more original meaning. Likewise, the first name Dick was common and even made famous (and infamous) by the cartoon character Dick Tracy and the ex-President (Tricky) Dick Nixon, formally known as Richard.  Today, almost no parents would give that name. Other words have mixed asexual and sexual application. On an official form, the word sex is generally marked by two options: male or female. Yet, even here, many forms are using the more neutral word gender to avoid any connotation. In some parts of America, people ask whether you want white meat, not the chicken breast, so as not to offend the more sensitive. To maintain a more genteel atmosphere, the family feline is referred to using two words, pussy cat, not only the first one. When society requires correctness, people must exercise due care in choosing their words.

Hebrew also has its sexual innuendo. A בולבול [bulbul] is a type of bird but every Israeli child knows that it can refer to the male sex organ.  Fortunately, people very rarely actually talk about the bird. There are two verbs in Hebrew that mean to finish: לסיים [lesayem] andלגמור [ligmor]. The latter also is descriptive in sex and, thus, is being used less and less in normal conversation. An interesting example is the Hebrew verb לזרום [lezrom], which means to flow. In slang, in regards to a woman, it means that she is easily convinced to have sex. Most of the time, no interference occurs but occasionally people regret what they say.

This contextual ambiguity is highly fluid, often changing from generation to generation.  It is impossible to know how the next generation will hint at their sexual activities in public speech or whether the current linguo will still be relevant. Consider that most of the puns in Shakespeare’s comedies are meaningless to speakers of modern English without explanations. One generation’s giggle is another one’s yawn and vice versa. Still, in some way, sex is lying somewhere in the background of all language.