# Cocks and asses: do you get flustered when using words that have a secondary profane meaning? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 3, 2013, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896 "2013-03-03T05:35:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/21 "2013-03-04T15:22:20Z")
First let me say that the assumed secondary meaning is not “profane” within the main accepted definition of profane which would be irreligious or disrespectful of religion. “Goddamnit” is profane, “Oh, my effin’ balls.” is not. “Cock” is a word commonly used in plumbing and other applications - one opens or closes a cock. Motorcycles are equipped with fuel petcocks. No, I do not snigger when using words that may have more than one meaning, but I realize it can happen. That’s why I keep a jar of Carribean Cock Flavored seasoning on my desk, to test the immaturity of my co-workers. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/22 "2013-03-04T16:01:33Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Huh? Are you saying that in Spain, “cow” is some kind of sexual euphemism? It’s not an euphemism at all, it’s a term for a woman with a big ass (if said in an appreciative way: it can also mean a woman whose excessive weight makes her unattractive); also, it can be paired with bull to refer to whether someone likes oysters or snails. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/23 "2013-03-04T16:20:21Z")
It does make people shy and has for a long time. There is a (nearly 100 years old) story in my family about a great aunt of mine who at the Christmas pageant was asked to say the line: The ass stuck his head out of his stall and brayed. She didn’t want to say that word and was told donkey was a good substitute. But she got flustered and wound up saying: “The donkey stuck his ass out of the stall and brayed.” * * * My understanding, perhaps incorrect, is that the F word was old Anglo Saxon for planting seed. I’ve never tried to confirm that since it’s such a nice innocent origin I prefer to just believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/24 "2013-03-04T16:36:04Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > It’s not an euphemism at all, it’s a term for a woman with a big ass (if said in an appreciative way: it can also mean a woman whose excessive weight makes her unattractive); also, it can be paired with bull to refer to whether someone likes oysters or snails. Correcting myself, _vaca_ is for big tits; it’s the mares that have big asses (but not the _yeguas_ or the _tordas_, the _jacas_). ---
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/25 "2013-03-04T17:29:06Z")
I don’t know that vaca is a euphemism (yes, it is a euphemism) for large breasted women any more so than cow is a euphemism in English. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/26 "2013-03-04T18:02:41Z")
In my workplace, I often have to write about when some project will be finished, will come available, etc. The Dutch expression for that used to be: “het zal klaar komen op datum x” (it will come (ready) on date x). But since “klaar komen” now primarily means " to come" (sexually) that phrase isn’t usable anymore. Does American English have the same problem with “getting off” as in getting off the bus, or getting off work? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/27 "2013-03-04T18:28:01Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > In my workplace, I often have to write about when some project will be finished, will come available, etc. The Dutch expression for that used to be: “het zal klaar komen op datum x” (it will come (ready) on date x). But since “klaar komen” now primarily means " to come" (sexually) that phrase isn’t usable anymore. > > Does American English have the same problem with “getting off” as in getting off the bus, or getting off work? I don’t think twice about using “getting off.” The sexual meaning of it doesn’t immediately occur to me unless I’m cracking wise with someone like Beavis and Butt-head. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/28 "2013-03-04T19:39:24Z")
> [@FrankJBN](#): > > I don’t know that vaca is a euphemism (yes, it is a euphemism) for large breasted women any more so than cow is a euphemism in English. Slang, not euphemism. ---
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/29 "2013-03-04T20:54:10Z")
Eupemism - because it is avoiding sexual reference to large breasts ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/30 "2013-03-04T20:57:54Z")
I was just wondering the other night if people started using the misnomer, “verbal contract” because they felt uncomfortable saying “ **oral**.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/31 "2013-03-04T21:01:54Z")
> [@FrankJBN](#): > > Eupemism - because it is avoiding sexual reference to large breasts But it doesn’t refer to the breasts, which have both “clean” and “dirty” names, but to the whole woman. And there’s nothing euphemistic about lines such as “that’s a cow I wouldn’t mind milking” - it’s as dirty and impolite as it gets, the opposite of an euphemism. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/32 "2013-03-04T22:27:10Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > As in the old mathematician’s chat-up line which goes: \* b 4i √u (ru/16) q t p\* Shouldn’t it be \* b 4i √u (ru/16) q t π\*? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/33 "2013-03-04T22:40:21Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > But it doesn’t refer to the breasts, which have both “clean” and “dirty” names, but to the whole woman. And there’s nothing euphemistic about lines such as “that’s a cow I wouldn’t mind milking” - it’s as dirty and impolite as it gets, the opposite of an euphemism. A dysphemism, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/34 "2013-03-04T22:51:37Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > It’s not an euphemism at all, it’s a term for a woman with a big ass (if said in an appreciative way: it can also mean a woman whose excessive weight makes her unattractive); also, it can be paired with bull to refer to whether someone likes oysters or snails. Huh. Spain is weird. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/35 "2013-03-04T22:58:17Z")
Isn’t root slang for fuck only in Australia? That’s the only region I’ve heard it used. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896/36 "2013-03-04T23:24:59Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Correcting myself, _vaca_ is for big tits; it’s the mares that have big asses (but not the _yeguas_ or the _tordas_, the _jacas_). > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Huh. Spain is weird. [This video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LjDe4sLER0) seems appropriate here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cocks-and-asses-do-you-get-flustered-when-using-words-that-have-a-secondary-profane-meaning/651896.md?page=1)