# A poll for the ladies re: terminology for "that area" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 27, 2006, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869 "2006-01-27T18:02:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/1 "2006-01-27T18:02:28Z")
So I’m writing my beloved a letter and, in it, am describing portions of her body. I’m still lingering in the Neck-Breast-Arm tricounty area but, a little further south, I’m going to be hitting interesting territory. My problem is coming up with a term for it that doesn’t sound overly clinical, vulgar or like something from a Harliquinn romance novel. Leaving it out altogether would be rather obvious in its absence so I need to think of something. Ladies? Ideas? What would read well to your eyes without breaking the mood? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/2 "2006-01-27T18:09:04Z")
dude checking in. yeah, i know the stipulations for this post, but i couldn’t resist… my favorite non-vulgar ones are: play-doh fun factory (as in “the baby had a conehead after comeing out of the play-doh fun factory”) “fertile crescent” i’ve got more, but i’m restraining myself. what is it about us guys in which we must develop euphemisms? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/3 "2006-01-27T18:10:05Z")
make that “coming” _grumbles something about college guys needing naps after 4 and a half hours of sleep and 3 early classes_ ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/4 "2006-01-27T18:10:48Z")
Pleasure zone. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/5 "2006-01-27T18:12:10Z")
Front butt ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/6 "2006-01-27T18:31:08Z")
Da golden palace of da himalayas. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/7 "2006-01-27T18:47:50Z")
> [@Least Original User Name Ever](#): > > what is it about us guys in which we must develop euphemisms? Well, the “correct” terms just remind me of health class. I’m foreseeing a tremendous chaff:wheat ratio coming out of this thread but I’ll see if someone can’t strike literary gold for me 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/8 "2006-01-27T18:52:23Z")
Chaucer, in the Wife of Bath’s Tale in The Canterbury Tales, uses _quondam_ (“whatever”, to very freely translate) and _belle chose_ (“pretty thing”). In the Arabian Nights’ tale of the Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad, you have _sesame seed_ and _The Khan (Inn) of Abu Mansour_. If you’re avoiding circumlocutions, you can always try the obscure by nifty-sounding _quim_. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/9 "2006-01-27T18:56:01Z")
FWIW: Richard Wagner wanted to name his opera “Tannhauser” the “Mount of Venus” after the home of the pagan goddess Tannhauser hangs out with. A physician freind pointed out that the area of which you speak was known as “the mons of Venus”. Hint: Do not tell da broard dat youse had help wit da toim. Dames are picky about youse talkin’ about dem. ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/10 "2006-01-27T18:57:07Z")
wasn’t “mount of Venus” an old-fashioned term? some kind of reference to the Bermuda triangle (ya know, a guy could get lost there)? ---
**Author:** ![carlotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@carlotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlotta)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/11 "2006-01-27T18:59:24Z")
I was scooped! darn you **carnivorousplant** sigh…my first simulpost ---
**Author:** ![rinni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@rinni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rinni)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/12 "2006-01-27T19:02:31Z")
Delicate flower. Feminine folds. _snicker_ I can’t say that one without a giggle. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/13 "2006-01-27T19:13:08Z")
> [@Least Original User Name Ever](#): > > dude checking in. > > yeah, i know the stipulations for this post, but i couldn’t resist… > > my favorite non-vulgar ones are: > > play-doh fun factory (as in “the baby had a conehead after comeing out of the play-doh fun factory”) > > “fertile crescent” > > i’ve got more, but i’m restraining myself. what is it about us guys in which we must develop euphemisms? Do you mean the Fuzzy Pumper? How about: **The Mines of Moria** **The Ol’ Pencil Sharpner** or **Hugh Grant** Chicks _love_ Hugh Grant ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/14 "2006-01-27T19:14:07Z")
> [@Least Original User Name Ever](#): > > i’ve got more, but i’m restraining myself. what is it about us guys in which we must develop euphemisms? Guys? You think women like “vagina”? Not a word that should be used outside of a doctor’s office. We need euphemisms. Personally I like “cunt” but I suppose I’m in the minority of woman who consider that a romantic term. Mount of Venus can also be mons venus which I think is a bit better…and while a bit Harliquinny, is rather charming I think. Or fuckhole…ok, probably in the minority there too… ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/15 "2006-01-27T19:17:14Z")
Why use a specific noun at all? Just describe this “interesting territory” as if you didn’t know what it was called. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/16 "2006-01-27T19:20:23Z")
Eliott in Scrubs calls vaginas “Bajingos” and the penis a “peeper” or “Schwing Schwong”. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/17 "2006-01-27T19:24:32Z")
In _Fierce Invlids Home From Hot Climates_ , Tom Robbins’s protagonist knows the term for ‘a lady’s treasure’ in about 130 languages. If you pick up a copy at the library, you should find something quaint. Or you could go with ‘a lady’s treasure’. Or ‘quaint’ : (Not work safe link, thus my asteriks):[Answers.com](http://www.answers.com/topic/cunt) > [@](#): > > However, in Chaucer’s usage there seems to be an overlap between the words “\*unt” and “quaint” (possibly derived from from the Latin for ‘known’). Quaint was probably pronounced in Middle English in much the same way as \*unt. It is sometimes unclear whether the two words were thought of as distinct from one another. Elsewhere in Chaucer’s work the word queynte seems to be used with meaning comparable to the modern “quaint” (charming, appealing). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/18 "2006-01-27T19:25:28Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Why use a specific noun at all? Just describe this “interesting territory” as if you didn’t know what it was called. 🙂 In the interest of time, I weenied out and subtlely referenced it along with her hips. > [@Betenoir](#): > > Guys? You think women like “vagina”? Not a word that should be used outside of a doctor’s office. We need euphemisms. Such was my thinking. I did like mons venus though and will file it away for next time. I don’t think “cunt” would go over real well. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/19 "2006-01-27T19:30:59Z")
I seem to recall a 187h century writer (Pepys?) who, writing letters to his wife when he was away, would urge her to prepare “the little thatched cottage” for his arrival home. I always liked that one, though it’s probably way too fruity for our coarser age. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869/20 "2006-01-27T19:35:25Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I > I don’t think “cunt” would go over real well. 😛 Well as longs as you look like this 😛 she probably won’t mind what you call it (of course she probably won’t be able to understand you at the time 😃 ). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-the-ladies-re-terminology-for-that-area/341869.md?page=2)