# Call Me Naive...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-naive/88484>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 19, 2001, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-naive/88484 "2001-10-19T20:03:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-naive/88484/1 "2001-10-19T20:03:26Z")

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I wasn’t raised to talk about things euphamistically. My parents could always talk to me (parent to child) at a mature, adult level. So, when movies mention “The Clap”  
what (VD?) disease is this? And, why is it called this?

Too big for my britches,

- Jinx

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-naive/88484/2 "2001-10-19T20:11:37Z")

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The Clap is gonorrhea. I’m not exactly positive why it is called that but the Old English word _claeppen_ means to throb. The slang term dates back to at least 1587.

Haj

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**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-naive/88484/3 "2001-10-20T20:46:09Z")

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The clap refers to gonorrhoea as **hajario** states.

A more likely derivation of the term is that a _clapier_ or _clapoir_ was a place of debauchery in the 16th century, hence _the clap_ became the appellation for a (venereal) disease one could contract at such a venue.

_The clap_ was standard English until circa 1850 when Victorian verbal prudery consigned the expression to the backwaters of slang English.

It disturbs me a little that my last five or six posts have been on the following subjects:

1. Farting.
2. The Origins Of Swear Words.
3. Venereal Disease.

I must try to broaden my horizons a little.

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**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-naive/88484/4 "2001-10-22T14:14:24Z")

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How did you miss:

\*\* “When did Uranus Get Pronounced YOUR uh nuss?” \*\*

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**Author:** ![whistlepig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/73ab20/32.png) [@whistlepig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whistlepig)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-me-naive/88484/5 "2001-10-23T04:30:44Z")

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Old McDonald had a farm  
EIEIO  
And on his farm he had V.D.  
EIEIO  
With a  
(clap) (clap) here  
and a (clap) (clap)  
Here a (clap), there a (clap)  
Everywhere a (clap) (clap)  
Old McDonald had a farm  
EIEIO

And on this farm he had a father  
EIEIO  
With a . . .

But that’s a different thread. ;D