Why Consciously Awake Women Are “Cunts”
About Me
Lover of Life, Love & Sensuality. Optimist. Believer. Natural Beauty Advocate. Minimalist. Living life outside the box; where the magic happens.To many the word “cunt” is one of the most vile, obscene and vulgar swear words in the English language. But while researching the origins of this word I was amazed to find out that in its original meaning we, consciously awake women, might all be “cunts”. Sacred cunts.
It seems that the reasons why the word ‘Cunt’ is perceived a bad word are no longer in our consciousness. When I’ve questioned people about why they find it offensive they struggle to say why ‘IT JUST IS, RIGHT!”. If everyone knew the wonderful and varied origins of the word ‘Cunt’ we would all be shouting it from the tree tops in celebration of the Cunt, the gateway to life itself.
Linguists have debated for a long time over the true roots and it is impossible to really know exactly where it is originated. The prefix ‘cu’ has been deemed “quintessentially feminine” and pre-dates written language. Therefore it can be found in the forms of ‘cu’, ‘qu’, ‘ku’, ‘coo’, ‘qy’ or ‘cy’.
From Cherish The Cunt
The Meaning, Magic and Power of the Word “Cunt”
#1 A spiritually, enlightened woman
The word ‘Cunt’ in the vernacular means vagina. The word itself was originally a term of respect and reverence for a powerful, spiritually enlightened woman. ‘Cunt’ derives from ‘Kunda’ or ‘Cunti, the Oriental Great Goddess. She was the Great Yoni (Sanskrit = Source of all life) of the Universe, where all life came from and to where all life returned for renewal.
(I am researching about the origins of this description. I have found it on various online resources, but no reference to a book or author is mentioned)
#2 A High priestess
I recently came across the book “Phallic Worship” which explored how “Cunts” have been high priestesses who had sexual union with people to bring them to a higher level of spirituality.
#2 A woman with divine power & life-giving ability
Western transcribers of ancient texts were shocked to find that the term ‘cunt’ was synonymous with ‘women’, but what they did not realize was that the term was not being used as an insult, rather an acknowledgement of the divine power and life-giving ability they bore.
#3 The latin origin of the word “cunt”
The most immediate sources is the Latin word ‘cunnus’, meaning the vulva. (Wikipedia) Its ‘poshest’ form is in the word for that loveliest of erotic pleasures, ‘cunnilingus’. A related Latin word is ‘cuneus’, a wedge, rather descriptive of the cunt itself and also found in the word ‘cuneiform’ (which will be described later in this article).
(Source: Comment section “Cherish the Cunt”)
#4 Other derivates of the word cunt
‘cunabula’ = a cradle (and like the mother’s womb, protects and soothes the child)
‘Cunina’ = the Roman goddess who protected cradled children.
‘Cunctipotent’ = being all powerful; having cunt magic
cunning, kenning and ken.
How Did the Word “Cunt” Became A Cuss Word?
It is said that scholars from the Medievals Ages onwards were embarrassed by sacred places, and female genitalia shrines identified with the word ‘cunt’, failing to understand it’s original meaning, and labelled these sacred places as the devilish cunts – ‘cunnus diaboli’. Western Society and it’s revulsion of all things female for a long time might have turned the word into something obscene and nasty.
The author George Scott of “Phallic Worship” explains that it was mainly the male dominated christian church who bastardized the word “cunt”.
The Origin Of The Word Cunt In Different Parts Of The World
#1 The Meaning of “Cunt” In Tamil
In Tamil, Kunda means pot/vessel and is also used as a slang term for vagina. It’s related to Kundalini, which resides in your Kunda. In Tamil, the K sound is a tad bit softer than in English. So, the way native speakers say Kunda is somewhat between how English speakers would say Cunda and Kunda.
Researched by Cherish the Cunt
#2 The Meaning of “Cunt” In Africa
The word “Kunta” means “Woman” in several African languages. Ancient writings mention the North African Goddess “Kunda Saharan” and her tribe which are called “The Kundas”. Kunda people are still around today and reside in Mozambique, Zambia & Zimbabwe.
Researched by Cherish the Cunt
#3 The Meaning of “Cunt” Sumeria (Ancient Iraq)
Here the word ‘Kunta’ means literally ‘one who has female genitalia’. This is linked with the word ‘Cuneiform’ which literally means ‘the sign of the cunta’ or ‘queen who invented writing’. Cuneiform is one of the earliest known forms of writing in Sumeria dating at c.3100 BC. At around the same time there were priestesses named The Quadesha who were accountants at the Temple of Inanna. It is highly likely that Cuneiform was the form of writing the Quadesha used on clay tablets to record the temple’s financial accounts thus making it ‘the Sign of the Cunta’.
Inanna was the goddess of love, war, fertility and lust. She was associated with the celestial planet, Venus. She was known as Queen of Heaven and the word ‘Qu’ can also mean love, sensuality, sexuality, the divinity present in all females. She is also connected with extramarital sex and sensual affairs, prowling streets and taverns for sexual adventure. There are hymns from Sumerian sacred texts which glorify Inanna’s sexuality and sang praises to her beautiful and soft Cunt. Interestingly the Quadesha are also cited in some texts as ‘Sacred Whores’.
Researched by Cherish the Cunt
#4 The Meaning of “Cunt” in India
It is believed that the word ‘Cunt’ came from the Proto German word ‘Kunto’ which is said to have come from the Indo-European word ‘Kunti’ which is the name of a much respected and revered Hindu goddess who was also known as ‘Cunti-Devi’ and is said to be the ruler of ‘Kunta’ which we know as ‘Kundalini’ energy.
The snake like feminine energy that travels up our spine. Legend stories say how she sang to the gods to call them to sleep with her. She eventually had a son with the Sun God, Surya and ‘The Teachings of Queen Kunti’ can still be read today. Many say that ‘Cunt’ derived from the Oriental Great Goddess Cunti, also known in ancient Hinduism as the ‘Yoni of the Universe’ (yoni means ‘sacred temple’ in Sanskrit and is used to describe the womb and cunt). Also Indian children who were born out of wedlock were know as ‘Kuntas’ and revered as gifts of the Goddess Kunti’. The word ‘Kunda’ is also used in India for a hole or pit in the ground (agni-kunda, fire-pit) for storing fire on alters in the Vedic religion.
Researched by Cherish the Cunt
#5 The Meaning of “Cunt” in China, Japan and Korea
Remembering the ‘CU’, ‘QU’ and ‘KU’ connection, we can understand how ‘Cunt’ is believed to be linked with the popular Buddhist Goddess of Compassion and Mercy is ‘Kuan-yin’ or ‘Quan Yin’ or ‘Kunnon’. Researched by Cherish the Cunt
She carries the Goddess and Divine Mother aspect of Buddhism and is generally regarded by many as the protector of women and children and is also seen as a fertility goddess capable of granting children. Some say ‘Cunda’ was the name of the Buddha’s mother according to the Japanese but all I can find is that is was possibly the name of a female blacksmith who fed the Buddha his last meal of either mushrooms or pork. He fell violently ill and then became enlightened.
Researched by Cherish the Cunt
#6 The Meaning of “Cunt” in Ancient Canaan, Eygpt
Here, Qudshu or Qetesh is venerated as the fertility goddess of sacred ecstasy and sexual pleasure and is depicted holding snakes in one hand and a lotus flower in the other as symbols of creation. She is called ‘Mistress of All the Gods’, ‘Lady of the Stars of Heaven’ and ‘Great of magic, mistress of the stars’.
Researched by Cherish the Cunt
Mad credits to the uber talented Colette from Cherish the Cunt for researching many of these information. She is a women’s health researcher, activist and an artist. Visit her blog to get to know more of her amazing work.
Image credit to the amazing Brian Donovan
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Yeah. It’s a sweet sounding word. As it should be.
I wrote this about it a while back…
https://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/08/offended-by-the-word-cunt-this-ones-for-you/
What is the sacred historical code of the word dick?
I <3 Cunt
Very little has been written about the word 'cunt'. The longest account so far published is an entry in Hugh Rawson's Dictionary Of Invective, in which he calls 'cunt' "The most heavily tabooed of all English words" (1989). Rawson's article is five pages long, though I feel that 'cunt' deserves a more extensive analysis. Therefore, what follows is intended as a definitive study of this ancient and powerful word.
Introduction
'Cunt' is perhaps the single most offensive and censored swearword in the English language: "Of all the four-letter words, CUNT is easily the most offensive" (Ruth Wajnryb, 2004). Our taboo surrounding the word ensures that it is rarely discussed, though, when it is, the superlatives come thick and fast: 'cunt' is "a word so hateful it can scarcely be uttered" (Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, 2000). Accordingly, Andrew Goldman calls 'cunt' "the mother of all nasty words" and "the most controversial word of all" (1999). For Tom Aldridge, it is "unarguably the most obscene [and] most forbidden word in English", "the ultimate obscenity", and "the nastiest four-letter word" (2001). John Doran describes it as "The most offensive word in the world", "the worst word that anyone has ever been able to think of", and "[the] most terrible of terrible words" (2002).
The most succinct description is provided by Pentti Olli, who defines 'cunt' as "the bottom half of a woman or a very despicable person" (1999). According to Francis Grose's scurrilous definition in his Classical Dictionary Of The Vulgar Tongue, it is "a nasty name for a nasty thing" (1796). In fact, the word has nine recognised definitions: it can mean 'vagina', 'a contemptuous person', 'a sexually available woman', 'a foolish person', 'sexual intercourse', 'an infuriating object', 'a difficult task', 'an acquaintance', and 'a vein for drug-injecting'. 'Cunt', while essentially a gynaecological term, is now more often uttered as a swearword; it is rarely employed in its literal, anatomical sense, and is instead found in abusive ('fucking cunt'), misogynist ('you cunt!'), and pornographic (cunt.com) contexts.
'Cunt' is a short, monosyllabic word, though its brevity is deceptive. Like many swearwords, it has been dismissed as merely Anglo-Saxon slang, as the anonymous Ode To Those Four-Letter Words cautions:
"friend, heed this warning, beware the affront
Of aping a Saxon: don't call it a cunt!" (—-).
The etymology of 'cunt' is actually considerably more complex and contentious than is generally supposed, as Ruth Wajnryb admits in A Cunt Of A Word: "Etymologists are unlikely to come to an agreement about the origins of CUNT any time soon" (2004). Greek Macedonian terms for 'woman' – 'guda', 'gune', and 'gyne' – have been suggested as the word's sources, as have the Anglo-Saxon 'cynd' and the Latin 'cutis' ('skin'), though these theories are not widely supported. Furthermore, 'cunt' is not strictly a slang term; like other 'four-letter words', it was originally standard English and was deliberately marginalised in favour of polysyllabic alternatives. Thus, 'cunt' was replaced with 'vagina' and 'pudendum', 'crap' gave way to 'excrement', and 'piss' was surpassed by 'urine'.
The prefix 'cu' is one of the oldest word-sounds in recorded language. It is an expression quintessentially associated with femininity, and is the basis of 'cow' ('female animal'), 'queen' ('female monarch'), and, of course, 'cunt' ('female genital'). The word's second most significant influence is the Latin term 'cuneus', meaning 'wedge', from which comes 'cunnus' ('vagina'). The final 't' of 'cunt' can be traced back to Scandinavia, as in the Old Dutch 'kunte'.
A 1972 supplement (edited by RW Burchfield) to the Oxford English Dictionary, the foremost authority on English etymology, clarifies the word's commonest contexts as the two-fold "female external genital organs" and "term of vulgar abuse". At the heart of this incongruity is our culture's negative attitude towards femininity. 'Cunt' is a primary example of the multitude of tabooed words and phrases relating to female sexuality, and of the misogyny inherent in sexual discourse.
Kate Millett sums up the word's uniquely despised status: "Somehow every indignity the female suffers ultimately comes to be symbolized in a sexuality that is held to be her responsibility, her shame […] It can be summarized in one four-letter word. And the word is not fuck, it's cunt. Our self-contempt originates in this: in knowing we are cunt" (1973). Specifically, she identified this attitude in the novels of Henry Miller: "His interpretation […] is that woman is no more than "cunt," though she is occasionally said to redeem herself by having babies" (1970).
When used in a reductive, abusive context, female genital terms such as 'cunt' and 'twat' are notably more offensive than male equivalents such as 'prick' and 'cock'. Joan Smith calls 'cunt' "the worst possible thing – much worse than ['prick'] – one human being can say to another" (1998) and Simon Carr calls it "the worst thing you can say about anyone" (2001). As Deborah Cameron notes, "taboo words tend to refer to women's bodies rather than men's. Thus for example cunt is a more strongly tabooed word than prick, and has more tabooed synonyms" (1985). Jonathon Green concurs that "the slang terms for the vagina outstrip any rivals, and certainly those for the penis […] They encompass what is generally acknowledged as the most injurious of monosyllabic epithets [and] that ultimate in four-letter words" (1993), by which, of course, he means 'cunt'.
This linguistic inequality is mirrored by a cultural imbalance that sees images of the vagina obliterated from contemporary visual culture: "The vagina, according to many feminist writers, is so taboo as to be virtually invisible in Western culture" (Lynn Holden, 2000). Censorship of both the word 'cunt' and the organ to which it refers is symptomatic of a general fear of – and disgust for – the vagina itself. The most literal manifestation of this fear is the myth of the 'vagina dentata', symbolising the male fear that the vagina is a tool of castration (the femme castratrice, a more specific manifestation of the Film Noir femme fatale).
There have been attempts, however, to re-appropriate 'cunt', investing it with a positive meaning and removing it from the lexicon of offence (similar in effect to the transvaluation of 'bad' and 'wicked', whose meanings have also been changed from negative to positive). The 'cunt-art' movement, for example, used traditional 'feminine' arenas such as sewing and cheerleading as artistic contexts in which to relocate the word. A parallel 'cunt-power' ideology, seeking to reclaim the word more forcefully, was instigated by Germaine Greer. At Wesleyan University there is even an official Cunt Club whose sole goal is to reclaim the word.
What 'cunt' has in common with most other contemporary swearwords is its connection to bodily functions. Genital, scatological, and sexual terms (such as, respectively, 'cunt', 'shit', and 'fuck') are our most powerful taboos, though this was not always the case. Social taboos originally related to religion and ritual, and Philip Thody contrasts our contemporary bodily taboos with the ritual taboos of tribal cultures: "In our society, that of the industrialised West, the word 'taboo' has lost almost all its magical and religious associations" (1997). In Totem Und Tabu, Sigmund Freud's classic two-fold definition of 'taboo' encompasses both the sacred and the profane, both religion and defilement: "The meaning of 'taboo', as we see it, diverges in two contrary directions. To us it means, on the one hand, 'sacred', 'consecrated', and on the other 'uncanny', 'dangerous', 'forbidden', 'unclean'" (1912).
Taboos relating to language are most readily associated with the transgressive lexicon of swearing. William Shakespeare, writing at the cusp of the Reformation, demonstrated the reduced potency of blasphemy and, with his thinly veiled 'cunt' puns, slyly circumvented the newfound intolerance towards sexual language. Later, John Wilmot would remove the veil altogether, writing "some of the filthiest verses composed in English" (David Ward, 2003) with an astonishingly uninhibited sexual frankness and a blatant disregard for the prevailing Puritanism. Establishment "prudery […] in the sphere of sex", as documented by Peter Fryer (1963), continued until after the Victorian period, when sexually explicit language was prosecuted as obscene.
It was not until the latter half of the twentieth century, after the sensational acquittal of Lady Chatterley's Lover, that the tide finally turned, and sexual taboos – including that of 'cunt' – were challenged by the 'permissive society'. During the Lady Chatterley obscenity trial, the word 'cunt' became part of the national news agenda, and indeed the eventual publication of Lady Chatterley can be seen as something of a watershed for the word, marking the first widespread cultural dissemination of "arguably the most emotionally laden taboo term" (Ruth Wajnryb, 2004).
The word has since become increasingly prolific in the media, and its appearances can broadly be divided into two types: euphemism and repetition. Humorous, euphemistic references to 'cunt', punning on the word without actually using it in full, represent an attempt to undermine our taboo against it: by laughing at our inability to utter the word, we recognise the arcane nature of the taboo and begin to challenge it. By contrast, the parallel trend towards repetitive usage of 'cunt' seeks to undermine the taboo through desensitisation. If 'cunt' is repeated ad infinitum, our sense of shock at initially encountering the word is rapidly dispelled.
With other swearwords (notably 'fuck') gradually losing their potency, 'cunt' is left as the last linguistic taboo, though even the c-word can now be found adorning badges, t-shirts, and book covers. Its normalisation is now only a matter of time.
Cunt: A Declaration Of Independence
Cunt Etymology And Miscellany
Indo-European: Cu And Femininity
The clearest method of structuring the complex etymology of 'cunt' is to approach it letter by letter. Its prefix, 'cu', is an expression of "quintessential femineity" (Eric Partridge, 1961), confirming 'cunt' as a truly feminine term. The synonymy between 'cu' and femininity was in place even before the development of written language: "in the unwritten prehistoric Indo-European […] languages 'cu' or 'koo' was a word base expressing 'feminine', 'fecund' and associated notions" (Tony Thorne, 1990). The proto-Indo-European 'cu' is also cognate with other feminine/vaginal terms, such as the Hebrew 'cus', the Arabic 'cush' and 'kush', the Nostratic 'kuni' ('woman'), and the Irish 'cuint' ('cunt').
Thus, 'cu' and 'koo', both pronounced 'coo', were ancient monosyllabic sounds implying femininity. 'Coo' and 'cou' are modern slang terms for vagina, based on these ancient sounds. Other vaginal slang words, such as 'cooch', 'coot', 'cooter', 'cooz', 'cooze', 'coozie', 'coozy', 'cookie', 'choochy', 'chocha', 'cootch', and 'coochie snorcher' are extensions of them. 'Coochie snorcher', as in The Little Coochie Snorcher That Could from The Vagina Monologues, is a childish euphemism for 'cunt' that has generated the following elaborate variants:
* 'hootchy-kootchy'
* 'hootchie-kootchie'
* 'hootchie-cootchie'
* 'hootchy-cootchy'
* 'hoochie-coochie'
* 'ootchimagootchi'
* 'ouchimagooga'.
The feminine 'cu' word-base is also the source of the modern 'cow', applied to female animals, one of the earliest recorded forms of which is the Old Frisian 'ku', indicating the link with 'cu'. Other early forms include the Old Saxon 'ko', the Dutch 'koe', the Old Higher German 'kuo' and 'chuo', the German 'kuhe' and 'kuh', the Old Norse 'kyr', the Germanic 'kouz', the Old English 'cy' (also 'cua' and 'cyna'), and the Middle English 'kine' and 'kye'.
The prefix is also been linked to elliptical (thus, perhaps, symbolically vaginal) terms such as 'cucuteni' ('womb-shaped Roman vase'), 'cod' ('bag'), 'cubby-hole' ('snug place'), 'cove' ('concave chamber'), and 'keel' ('convex ridge'). The Italian 'guanto' ('glove') and the Irish 'cuan' ('harbour') may also be related, as they share with 'vagina' the literal meaning 'receptacle'. Even 'cudgel' ('weapon') has been suggested as another link, though a cudgel seems more like a cock than a cunt, and indeed none of these terms have the demonstrably feminine associations of 'cunt' or 'cow'.
'Cu' also has associations with knowledge: 'can' ('to know') evolved from the Middle English 'cunne', 'cunae', and 'cun', which are in turn derived from the Old Frisian 'kunna', the Old Saxon 'cunnan', the Dutch 'kunnen', and the Old Higher German 'kunnan', all of which contain the 'cu'/'ku' prefix. RF Rattray highlights the connection between femininity and knowledge: "The root cu appears in countless words from cowrie, Cypris, down to cow; and the root cun has two lines of descent, the one emphasising the mother and the other knowledge: Cynthia and […] cunt, on the one hand, and cunning, on the other" (1961).
Indeed, there is a significant linguistic connection between sex and knowledge: one can 'conceive' both an idea and a baby, and 'ken' means both 'know' and 'give birth'. 'Ken' shares a genealogical meaning with 'kin' and 'kind', from the Old English 'cyn' and the Gothic 'kuni'. It also has vaginal connotations: "['kin'] meant not only matrilineal blood relations but also a cleft or crevice, the Goddess's genital opening" (Barbara G Walker, 1983).
The Latin 'cognoscere', related to 'cognate', may indeed be cognate with the sexual organ 'cunt'. Knowledge-related words such as 'connote', 'canny', and 'cunning' may also be etymologically related to it, though such a connection is admittedly tenuous. Less debatable is the connection between 'cunctipotent' and 'cunt': both are derived from the Latin 'cunnus'. Geoffrey Chaucer's 'cunt'-inspired term 'queynte' is yet another link between sex and knowledge, as he uses it to mean both 'vagina' and 'cunning'.
Cw: The Celtic Cu
In Celtic and modern Welsh, 'cu' is rendered as 'cw', a similarly feminine prefix influencing the Old English 'cwithe' ('womb', from the Welsh 'cwtch'). The 'cw' prefix can be traced back to the Indo-European 'gwen', which also influenced the Greek 'gune' and 'gunaikos', the Sumerian 'gagu', and the feminine/vaginal prefix 'gyn' (as in 'gynaecology' and, more negatively, 'misogyny').
Sharing the 'cw' prefix is 'cwe', meaning 'woman', influencing the Old English 'cuman' and 'cwene'. Anglicised phonetically, 'cwene' became 'quean', and is related to the Oromotic term 'qena', the Lowland Scottish 'quin', the Dutch 'kween', the Old Higher German 'quena' and 'quina', the Gothic 'quens' and 'qino', the Germanic 'kwenon' and 'kwaeniz', the Old Norse 'kvaen' (also 'kvan', 'kvenna', and 'kvinna'), the Middle English 'queene' and 'quene', and the modern English 'quean' and 'queen'.
'Cwm' also shares the 'cw' prefix, however its feminine origins seem initially perplexing, as it means 'valley'. In fact, this topographical definition is clearly a vaginal metaphor, as valleys are as furrowed and fertile as vaginas (although the Welsh slang words for 'vagina' are 'cont' and 'chuint' rather than 'cwm'). 'Cwm' is found in the title of the traditional song Cwm Rhonnda ('Rhonnda Valley') and the soap-opera Pobol Y Cwm ('People Of The Valley'), and, taking the vagina metaphor into account, we are all 'people of the valley' through birth.
'Cwm' is pronounced 'come', though 'quim', an English slang term for 'vagina', is a mispronounced Anglicisation of it. Variants of 'quim' include 'qwim', 'quiff', 'quin', and 'quem', and it has been combined with 'mince' to form 'quince' ('effeminate').
'Quim' has been extended to form 'quimwedge' (literally 'vaginal wedge', thus 'penis'), which is especially interesting as it utilises 'wedge' to mean 'penis' when, in fact, 'cunt' itself derives from the Latin for 'wedge' ('cuneus'). Dorion Burt's Decunta (197-) provides a further oxymoronic 'cunt'/'penis' connection: a large sculpture filled with whiskey, it blatantly phallic in shape yet vaginal in name. There is a lesbian magazine titled Quim, and related to the term are the portmanteau words 'queef', 'kweef', and 'quiff', all meaning 'vaginal fart' and derived from 'quim' in combination with 'whiff'.
In addition to the clumsily Anglicised 'quim', 'cwm' was also adopted into English with the more accurate phonetic spelling 'coombe', from the Old English 'cumb'. 'Coombe' and its variants 'combe', 'comb', and 'coomb' remain common components of surnames and placenames. Indeed, so common is the word in English placenames that Morecambe Bay is often mis-spelt Morecombe: as Ian Mayes is at pains to point out, "It is not Morcombe Bay […] it is Morcambe Bay" (2001). In England, there are four villages called Coombe (one each in Gloustershire and Hampshire, and two in Devon) and three called Combe (in Berkshire, Herefordshire, and Oxfordshire).
In America, 'combe' appears in the name of Buncombe County, from which the slang term 'bunkum' is derived. Congressional representative Felix Walker, ending a long-winded House of Representatives speech in 1821, insisted that he was "bound to make a speech for Buncombe" (Jonathon Green, 1998). Thus, 'buncombe' became synonymous with nonsensical speech, and was later simplified to 'bunkum'.
Latin: From Cu To Cun
We have seen how 'cu' originated as an ancient feminine term. In the Romance languages, the 'cu' prefix became 'co', as in 'coynte', the Italian 'conno' and 'cunno', the Portugese 'cona', and the Catalan 'cony'. This 'co' prefix may also suggest a possible link with the Old English 'cot', forerunner of 'cottage', though this is not proven.
The 'co' prefix is found most abundantly in Spanish, which provides 'concha' ('vagina'), 'chocha' ('lagoon', a vaginal metaphor), and 'cono' ('vagina'). Suzi Feay finds 'cono' preferable to the coarser-sounding 'cunt': "I must say, 'cono' is a much nicer word than its English equivalent" (2003). There is also a Castilian Spanish variant ('conacho'), and a milder euphemistic form: 'cona' and 'conazo'. 'Cono' and its derivatives are practically ubiquitous in the Spanish language, as Stephen Burgen explains: "People are often shocked at the shear quantity of conos in Spanish discourse" (1996). In Mexico, Spaniards are known colloquially as 'los conos', indicating Mexican surprise at the word's prevalence in Spain.
'Cono' is significantly milder than its English equivalent, 'cunt', and therefore closely mirrors the similarly mild and omnipresent French term 'con' (of which more later). The transition from 'cu' to 'co' can be seen most clearly in the progression from the Old French 'cun' and 'cunne', to the Middle French 'com' and 'coun', and the modern French 'con'. These terms contain the letter 'n', and this is a clue that their evolution from 'cu' was indirect. The missing link is the Latin term 'cuneus', meaning 'wedge'.
'Wedge' and 'cunt', however, seem unlikely associates, as Jane Mills explains: "I know what a cunt looks like, and the word 'wedge' doesn't sort of spring to mind!" (Kerry Richardson, 1994). The 'wedge'/'cunt' link actually rests on their shared cuneiform shape: 'cuneus' led to both 'cuneiform' and 'cunt', with both words describing wedge-shaped triangular formations. 'Cuneiform' (from the Latin 'cuneformis' and the French 'cuneiforme') has the variants 'cuniform', 'cuneoform', and 'cuneal' (from the Latin 'cunealis').
The Latin 'cuneat'/'cuneate' and 'cuneare' both also derive from 'cuneus', and are the sources of the modern 'coin', whose variants include 'coing', 'coign', 'coigne', 'quoin', 'quoyne', 'coyne', 'coynye', 'coigny', 'coignye', 'coyn', 'quoyne', and 'kynge'. Tim Healey proposes that there may be an ancient pun at work between 'coin' and 'cunt' – the French 'bijou' means both 'jewel' and 'vagina', recalling Inga Muscio's vaginal term "anatomical jewel" (1998), and, as 'cunt' and 'coin' are etymologically linked by 'cuneus', a similar double-entendre is possible in English. Indeed, the French phrase 'petit coin' is a euphemism for 'cunt', and, furthermore, 'coin' is a euphemism for 'conceive' and 'coiner' can refer to a man who impregnates a woman.
Thus, 'cuneiform', 'coin', and 'cunt' share the same etymological origin: 'cuneus'. The connection between 'cuneus' and 'cunt' is 'cunnus' (Latin for 'vagina'), and this connection is most clearly demonstrated by the term 'cunnilingus' ('oral stimulation of the vagina'). In this combination of 'cunnus' and 'lingere' ('to lick'), we can see that 'cunnus' is used in direct reference to the vagina, demonstrating that the 'cun' prefix it shares with 'cunt' is more than coincidental.
Euphemistic variants of 'cunnilingus' include 'cunnilinctus', 'cunnylicious', 'cunning lingus', 'Colonel Lingus' (t-shirt slogan), and "Canni langi" (Michelle Hanson, 2003). It is often comically confused with 'cunning linguist' and was evoked by the song and album (The Memory) Kinda Lingers (1982). 'Cunnus' also occurs in the phrase 'cunnus diaboli', mediaeval "cunt-shrine[s]" known as 'devilish cunts' and defined by Barbara G Walker as "Sacred places associated with the world-cunt [that] sometimes embarrassed Victorian scholars who failed to understand their earlier meaning" (1983).
There are many terms derived from 'cunnus' that have either literal or metaphorical vaginal or maternal connotations: the Roman goddess Cunina, the pagan goddess Cundrie, the Welsh 'cunnog', 'cuniculus' ('passageway'), 'cununa', and 'cunabula' ('cradle'). 'Cunctipotent', meaning 'all-knowing' or "having cunt-magic" (Barbara G Walker, 1983), is also derived from 'cunnus', and links sex to knowledge in the manner discussed earlier. Also from 'cunnus' is 'cundy', which means 'underground water channel' and is slang for 'vaginal fluid', a vaginal metaphor in the manner of 'cwm'. The slang term 'cunnifungus' ('diseased vagina') also derives its prefix from 'cunnus'.
Dutch: From Cun To Cunt
The Greek 'kusos', 'kusthos', 'konnos', and 'konnus' (perhaps related to the Egyptian 'ka-t'), all emerged in parallel with 'cunnus'. Along with the Hebrew 'kus' and 'keus', they share an initial 'k' in place of the Latin 'c', and influenced the Norwegian word 'kone' ('wife'). In modern Czech, 'kunda' ('vagina') is an invective equivalent to 'cunt', and is also found in the diminutive form 'kundicka' (the closest English equivalent being 'cuntkin'). Modern Norwegian includes a broad lexicon of related terms, including 'torgkone' ('market-woman'), 'vaskekone' ('washer-woman'), 'gratekone' ('mourner'), and 'kvinne' ('woman', also spelt 'kvinner' and 'kvinnelig').
Like Norway's 'kone' and its variants, there are are many other words with similar meanings, also belonging to Scandinavian languages, influenced by the same Greek examples: 'kunton', the Old Swedish 'kona', 'kundalini' ('feminine energy'), 'khan' ('Eurasian matriarch'), the Hittite 'kun' and 'kusa' ('bride'), the Basque 'kuna' (also 'cuna'), the Danish 'kusse', the Old Norse and Old Frisian 'kunta' and 'kunte', the Middle Higher German 'kotze', the Icelandic 'kunta' (or 'kunt'), and the Old Dutch 'kunte'.
This last example, 'kunte', later developed into the more Latinate Middle Dutch 'cunte' and the modern Swedish 'kuntte', though the modern Dutch term is 'kutt'. Also spelt 'kut', and extended to 'kutwijf' ('cuntwife'), 'kutt' has been used as the title of the porn magazine Kutt (2002), leading to Lee Carter's 'uncut' pun "live and unKutt" (2002).
It is interesting that these Dutch examples include the suffixes 'te' and 'tt', as the final 't' of "the most notable of all vulgarisms" has always been "difficult to explain" (1961), according to Eric Partridge, who included 'cunt' in his Dictionary Of Slang And Unconventional English. The complex etymological jigsaw of this "most notorious term of all" (1947) can now be broadly pieced together: the 'cu' is Proto-Indo-European, the 'n' is Latin, and the 't' is Dutch. The Middle English 'kunte', 'cuntt', 'cunte', 'count', and 'counte' bear the marks of each of these three influences.
It is the genuine English name for the organ that is scientifically called vulva, and which many in error calls vagina.
https://www.abicana.com/health_information.htm
I always wondered why this is the worst word to call a woman, i never personally felt offended by the word myself. very interesting, thank you
Article made me laugh then get angry for all women. Go elsewhere for your pseudo post-feminism. Also, writer of this article is a cunt in every sense of the non-disectected, etymological ideal of the word. And a tool.
It is also the old proper word for the slot on a screws head
The cuntification of the word cunt is such an oppression to women, obviously by all men since Abrahamic religions were invented. It is a non-physical violence to womyn to imply that comparing someone or something to (female) genitalia could be an insult at all. Please remember the word “twat” is also used as an insult by a society that has been conditioned to be afraid of female genitals. And “pussy” is used to denote a cowardly person.
Let’s not stop at “cunt” and female genital swear words though! There is so much more to reclaim! We NEED to reclaim the oppression bought about by the use of other bodily orifices and functions as bad words.
We need to reclaim the word “asshole”, because what is wrong with sphincters? “Asswipe”, “shit head”, “poo vein”, and “turd monger” are related to the anus and associated bodily functions. Even a gorilla who was taught sign language was not safe from the patriarchal, Christian, male conditioning, when she coined the phrase “dirty toilet face” in a moment of frustration with her oppressive keepers! See how this shit infiltrates our minds? DAMN YOU PATRIARCHY!
Then we move onto male genitalia. Why is it an insult to call someone a “cock” (is that a “qu word?! omg!!), or a “dick”. Then there is “bellend”, an insult given to compare a person to the glans end of a mans penis. We have “dickhead”, which either alludes to a persons head being replaced by a giant dick, or a dick prodtruding from ones head, or some combination of the two. Sometimes the word “scrote” is used in a derogitory way, referencing the scrotum. What is wrong with scotums? They are the vessels which hold the seed of life!
Ever heard someone call someone else a “tit”? THIS NEEDS TO STOP BECAUSE FEMINISM!!!
Finally, the coupling of the male and female genitalia should be sacred and make us feel all tingly and not awkward but instead the word “fuck” and all number of variations is one of the most universal insults on the planet. OUTRAGEOUS!!! I NEED TO BURN AT LEAST 5 BRA’S TO CALM DOWN FROM THIS.
In short, if you have not seen through my none-too-subtle irony thus far, allow me to come clean and show my hand – I utterly, utterly detest you fucking morons. Grow the fuck up. Stop being offended by every fucking possible thing you can be, after taking great effort to contort and interpret any little thing into a feminist narrative somehow. You have bodies of literature that have crafted this lens, this world view that blows reality into bizarre and surreal proportions.
The strongest lies are mixed with truth.
Your feminist culture of being offended by everything, seeing conspiracy and female oppression everywhere and male privilege and gay abandon everywhere in their simple, easy, male lives is simply not. the. whole. truth.
I’m fucking pig-sick of the MASSIVE double standards and hypocrisy that is 2 inches from your face with every batshit crazy feminist rant you guys go on, and yet you can’t see. You only have to think about some of these things for 10 seconds in an objective frame of mind to see the absurdity, or at least that it’s not all about you, it’s not all about women. But you can’t do that.
This is because you are in love with being the victim, the oppressed, the hard done by. It’s your culture, your world view, your lens. Everything you can’t have or don’t like is because of PATRIARCHY.
How could you have missed the ‘cunning folk’ of Anglo-Saxon England? Practitioners of folk magic rooted in archaic Germanic history. To be cunning was to be knowledgeable in the magic and healing arts. Cunning was a good thing, originally. On the Scandinavian side, magic was also mainly the realm of women, and the most powerful were referred to as a völva, from which comes the well known anatomy term. The völva, or staff-carrier; wand-witch, was powerful and revered. She could prophesy, work magic, heal, and even read one’s wyrd. There are many references to fuþ, or futh, (fud), carved in runes from a millennia ago and earlier. This would be a slang term meaning something close to ‘pussy’, ‘cunt’. Interestingly, völsi, fro which völva comes, means staff, wand, and can be a euphemism for penis.
wow. amazing. I love the rise of women again. I am learning so much, I feel my fire inside… something that I have always known was there but didn’t know where to find it. Thank you for sharing this. Very empowering.
“is was possibly the name of a female blacksmith who fed the Buddha his last meal of either mushrooms or pork. He fell violently ill and then became enlightened.” I’m not sure where you’re reading up on Buddhism. Shakyamuni was fed milk & honey by a prostitute after starving himself for a long time. He didn’t get violently ill- he ate more, regained his strength, and sat under the Bodhi tree until he had his great realization. Also, the “goddess” you mention isn’t a “goddess”, it’s a Bodhisattva and is depicted as either male or female. Gender doesn’t matter with Kannon/Avalokiteshvara. Also, it’s not some fertility thing either.
You go on about “spiritually enlightened women” but haven’t said at all what that actually means, to be spiritually enlightened. Or “consciously awake”. What exactly do you mean by that?
It’s just a word they use to fool the world in to believing that are of a higher conscious than other women. They think they are the equivalent of a spiritual Socrates or Plato, when in fact they are no more enlightened than other women or males, who themselves also use their brains.
If they really were the definition of enlightened, they’d be knowledgeable in all subjects and have a sense of an actual sould. But really, in everyday conversation, they have limited knowledge of most things that don’t relate to feminism and empowerment. I’ve had conversations with teenagers that lasted longer and were more coherent to the subject matter during said conversations, than I’ve had with any “feminist” in my life. They are limited to that which they know, and all they know is how to be a quasi-activist or call you names if they don’t agree with you.
They are the joke of the female world, and minority too. They just don’t realize the rest of the hardoworking, common sense world is laughing at them.
I appreciate the creator of this website, it has a sinple and calming way of enlightening myself and others on the power of sexuality on a awaken perceptive. Great videos too, keep sharing greatness
There was a big push by feminists to “take back” the word slut. It failed magnificently. I predict that trying to re-define the word cunt will have the same outcome.
I LOVE this! I am a two-spirit so I feel that I am half a cunt!
no, my dear–u r a cunt and then some:)!
What happened to my comment about the ring in a multi-horse harness rig through which the reins pass? Not sexy enough for this forum? True, though.
Check the Woman’s Encylopedia of Myths and Secrets for the source of : “The word ‘Cunt’ in the vernacular means vagina. The word itself was originally a term of respect and reverence for a powerful, spiritually enlightened woman. ‘Cunt’ derives from ‘Kunda’ or ‘Cunti, the Oriental Great Goddess. She was the Great Yoni (Sanskrit = Source of all life) of the Universe, where all life came from and to where all life returned for renewal.”
Great Article. <3
Well, then I can use the word faggot when I ask for cig then…duly noted
The article seems like a lot of nonsense, but there is nothing wrong with the word cunt, or the female genitalia that it is used to describe. By all means, we should be celebrating the word – not because of some divine associations, but precisely because of what it actually means now.
Well, it’s spiritual from the sense that most men spend their lives searching for it.
How is it nonsense when you are in parallel with the point of the whole article
Its a long time since I read the article but from my recollection, it was etymologically fanciful. Respecting women as people though, is something important and if that was a point the article was trying to get across, I certainly agree:)
But what does “respecting people” mean?
As I said, the so called history in the article seems dubious at best, but i can still agree with the sentiment.
so, I should feel privileged to be referred to as a cunt?! Lol. This article is a bunch of crap. Most of the descriptions and “arguments” have something to do with a woman having sex with people for “spiritual enlightenment” so, even if that is the case I still see a “cunt” in a negative light.
As a secular atheist I could care less about all the gods and goddess–so much make believe. I stand by the right of women to determine what to do with their nether bits and personally, I love licking cunt.
Hope springs eternal.
A very mean or sexually rude male is a “dick”…..and conversely….a very mean or sexually rude female is a “cunt”.