# Terminology for the female reproductive area, or, What do YOU like to call it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 14, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355 "2001-05-14T01:18:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/41 "2001-05-15T03:59:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*I agree with the OP. Men have long had the luxury of naming their member a variety of cute, inoffensive, or humourous sounding names: Willy, John Thomas, Johnson, Dick, One-eyed Trouser Snake, etc. > \*\* “Your piece of pork, your wife’s best friend, Your Percy or your cock; You can wrap it up in ribbons, You can slip it in your sock, But don’t take it out in public Or they’ll put you in the dock And you won’t come back!” Sorry about that. Oh, and I’m ROTFL over “cinnabar portal”… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/42 "2001-05-15T05:43:50Z")
“The Undiscovered County”. [sub]At least for me, anyway.[/sub] :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/43 "2001-05-15T06:04:20Z")
\*Chapter 9 from _The Perfumed Garden of the Shaykh Nefzawi_, translated by Sir Richard Francis Burton, is titled “Sundry Names Given to the Sexual Organs of Women.” _El furj_, the slit. _El kuss_, the vulva. _El kelmoune_, the voluptuous. _El ass_,\* the primitive. _El zerzour_, the starling. _El shukk_, the chink. _Abou tertour_, the one with a crest. _Abou khoshim_, the one with a little nose. _El gunfond_, the hedgehog. _El sakouti_, the silent one. _El dukkak_, the crusher. _El tseguil_, the importunate. _El taleb_, the yearning one. _El hacene_, the beautiful. _El nuffakh_, the one that swells. _Abou djebaha_, the one with a projection. _El ouasâ_, the vast one. _El dride_, the large one. _Abou beldoum_, the glutton. _El mokaour_, the bottomless. _Abou shufrine_, the two-lipped one. _Abou âungra_, the humpbacked. _El rorbal_, the sieve. _El hezzaz_, the restless. _El lezzaz_, the unionist. _El moudd_, the accomodating. _El moudïne_, the assistant. _El musboul_, the long one. _El molki_, the duellist. _El harrab_, the fugitive. _El sabeur_, the resigned. _El mosuffah_, the barred one. _El mezour_, the deep one. _El addad_, the biter. _El mensass_, the sucker. _El zunbur_, the wasp. _El harr_, the hot one. _El ladid_, the delicious one. There follows a commentary explaining each name on this list. Given in a footnote in my edition: “Here are some of the names given by Rabelais to the natural parts of women: _le serrecropière, le calibistris, le pertuys, le boursavitz._” \*[sub](Now you know where the phrase “piece of ass” comes from)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![BarBQSauce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@BarBQSauce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarBQSauce)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/44 "2001-05-15T06:07:20Z")
You gotta love the 'nanny ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/45 "2001-05-15T10:58:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dire Wolf \* > \*\* > And no one’s mentioned “cooter” ?yet? > > \*\* Exactly! I was wondering if I’d be the first…you beat me to it. “Cooter” is a great word. A little bit cute, but it rolls on the tongue(punny!) quite nicely… **Cooter has my vote** -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![robgruver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@robgruver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robgruver)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/46 "2001-05-15T11:10:25Z")
Someone on the boards called theirs “Hoo ha”. I have now adopted that one for Mrs. robgruver. I vote for Hoo ha’s everywhere! ---
**Author:** ![fierra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@fierra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fierra)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/47 "2001-05-15T11:25:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > **Quim** Dammit, Cal! I now have that Mary Poppins/chimney sweep song in my head reworded as “Quim, quiminey, quim, quiminey, quim, quim, querie…” Aaarghh! ---
**Author:** ![Spoonbender](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spoonbender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoonbender)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2001, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/48 "2001-05-15T15:34:36Z")
“This one time, at band camp…” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/49 "2001-05-17T03:13:22Z")
\*Albanian kellef Allentiac poru Arabic farj; mahbal; kuss Armenian buts Aymara phuthu Ayoman busi Basque alu; potorro Belarusian pizda Bengali joni; gud Bisa bid Bobo-Fing bido Brahui pôs Campa sibichi Cantonese hai Caranga piche Catalan cony; farranaco; parrús; xona Chimu pot Chinese yin-dao; bi; chibai Czech kunda; piCa Djerma bute Dutch kut; flamoes Eskimo utchuk Estonian puts; vitt Finnish moppi; pillu; vittu French vulve; moule; noune; plotte sub[/sub] Fula kuttu; kuttûji; ndewâku; jauturu; jauti; farjîje Gallego cona Gamella sebu Ganza pit Ganjule pote Gã gbení; sÒO; tóto Gao buti German Kotze; Fotze; Möse; Puderdose; Scham Gondi pênDâ Greek kteis; kolpos; khoiros; myrrhine(?); mouni sub[/sub] Guahibo petu Guayabero silfhuta Guro buri Haitian Creole coucoune Hebrew pot Hindustani cût sup[/sup]; puttu Hungarian buksza; picsa; pina; punci Icelandic fuð Indonesian nonok; turuk Irish báltaí Italian brinca; figa; fregna; mona; mussa; patacca; potta; quaglia; sorca; sticchio; topa Jaricuna poita Japanese hoto; manko; omencho Jegu paate Kandoshi apchirich Kannada golli; tulli; pukaLi; mukLi; pûku; pucci Khowar drang Kodagu pûrï Koma bitt Konda pûku; muDi Kota piD; poj Korean pojida Kuvi putki Latin vulva; cunnus Lithuanian pize; pute Luganda mmana Luridya puda Malay apom; cibai; cipet; pepek; puki; tempek Malayalam alkîTam; kantu; kuricci; kûti; pûru; pocci Malinke butu Marathi phodri; pucci Macedonian pichka Manx pitt Middle High German vut Mohegan sebud Mömö wunda Mongolian üdügü Nahuatl cihuapilli; cihuayo Nepali puti Oromo fuji Persian kos; mâdagî Polish cipa; cipka; jebadlo; pizda; wzgorek rozkoszy Portuguese chochota; cona; xana sub[/sub] Prasun Kafiri zlu Rukai pati Romany minch, minj Russian vlagalishche; pizda; manda Sanskrit **yoni** ; apatyapatha; janmapatha; madanâtapatra; puSpapadavî. avâcyadeša; bhaga; dhAraka; gabha; jartu; ulba Serbo-Croatian stidnica; piCka Sinhalese yôNi Siusi tsupote Slovak piCa Spanish chocho; concha; coño; crica Sumerian mug; gal-la; sal-munuz Swahili kuma Swedish slida; fitta; mutta Taiwanese imho Tamil araippaNam; cîti; ciNNam; cûttu; kûti; makâmuTi; manmatakirukam; nôni; peNkuri; peNNuTampu; pîLal; poccu; ponnâkam; puTpapatam; puNTai; pûppakam; rakaciyam; upattam; **yôni** ; yônittuvâram. akal; alkul; araippai; cinnam; jakanam; kaTitatam; kîlvây; maRai; mâranâlayam; matanâlayam; mêru; nakkinam; nâpîlam; nitampam; pakam; pon; ponnuTampu; puTTam; irâciyam; vaTivu Tariana pâtiniyawa Telugu pukku; golli; dubbe; pûku Toyeri apuit Tulu kûdi; koyilè; pûTi Tupi babaka Turkish am Uro pishi Vietnamese âm hô; âm vât Washo dîbis Wiyot besh Zulu umlomo wenhlunu; golo ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/50 "2001-05-17T05:34:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > **Irish > báltaí** That’s a slang word, and it takes in the entire female genitalia. The standard word for vagina is _faighin_. Which is better than the Irish word for vulva: _pit_ !! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/51 "2001-05-17T12:20:20Z")
_Go raibh maith agat, a rún_. Anyone know any more names for it in different languages, please contribute! ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/52 "2001-05-17T21:21:39Z")
While we were growing up, my dad referred to our ‘pretty pink parts’ as ‘petunia’. My sister and I couldn’t pronounce that, so we said ‘tuma’. My neice couldn’t pronounce THAT, so it became ‘tutu’. Now, I live in the Northwest Territories in Canada (until tomorrow) and have several Inuit clients and colleagues. One of them has the last name Tootoo. To compound things, his first name is Hunter. I have a hard time keeping a straight face while talking to him. It’s a good thing I’m leaving. ---
**Author:** ![NPavelka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/edb3f5/32.png) [@NPavelka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NPavelka)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/53 "2001-05-17T21:38:04Z")
I’ve found a good one for “while out in public” or in the presence of smaller people (aka children)… I like to refrer to that wonderful garden of love as “Mommy Parts”… a term I picked up from the Bob and Tom Morning show. Put in private I do fall in with the 90% and use “Pussy”… I like to use the Sean Connery pernunciation of Poosy… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2001, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/54 "2001-05-17T22:05:40Z")
My vote goes to fanny. Pussy sounds really nasty to me… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2001, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/55 "2001-05-18T11:47:37Z")
\ ***ruadh** , I _was_ looking for words that mean either ‘vulva’ or ‘the whole thing’. _Faighin_ for vagina is just a Latin borrowing (but looks curiously Dickensian). Learned a new Irish word for vulva, thanks to you: _pit_ — but notice on my list, it’s the exact same word in Ganza, a language of East Africa. Compare these also with words from around the world — Bisa _bid_, Hebrew _pot_, Chimu _pot_, Ganjule _pote_, Old Japanese _photo_, Hindustani _puttu_, Guahibo _petu_, Gao/Songhai _buti_ (“shake your _buti_”), etc. They have all been traced back to a Proto-World root for the vulva, \*PUTI. One of the most primordial, universal words in the world. The English slang word derived from it is _poontang_ (\< French _putaine_ ‘whore’ \< Latin _putta_ ‘girl’ \< Proto-Indo-European \*puto ‘vulva’). ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2001, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/56 "2001-05-18T14:26:40Z")
My favorite is _petunia._ I’ll go with _sushi_ or _yoni,_ though. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2001, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/57 "2001-05-18T14:36:54Z")
YAY! Robgruver! I’m the one who calls my hoo ha my hoo ha… but when it’s shaven, mr. jarbaby calls it The Skink. I don’t know why. My hooha does not resemble a lizardhead. I like that one German word kotze. kotze. i’ll tuck that away for the next rammstein concert. 😉 jarbaby ---
**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:** [May 18, 2001, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/58 "2001-05-18T14:48:51Z")
jarbabyj: And as I’ve remarked before, the body of water that “P,B,and J Otter” live on in the Disney Channel cartoon is “Lake Hooha”. Now I’ve got this bizarre mental image every time MilliCal watches that show. (Pays me back for “quim, quim, queree”, I guess.) As for “kotze”, that was the last name that Ian Fleming gave to the East German Physicist in the book **Thunderball**. I think they used it in the movie, too. Nobody made as big a deal about it as they did about “Pussy Galore”, though. Maybe the critics don’t know German. ---
**Author:** ![bryanmcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@bryanmcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmcc)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/59 "2001-05-18T21:50:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \*\*\* > Tamil > araippaNam; cîti; ciNNam; cûttu; kûti; makâmuTi; manmatakirukam; nôni; peNkuri; peNNuTampu; pîLal; poccu; ponnâkam; puTpapatam; puNTai; pûppakam; rakaciyam; upattam; **yôni** ; yônittuvâram. akal; alkul; araippai; cinnam; jakanam; kaTitatam; kîlvây; maRai; mâranâlayam; matanâlayam; mêru; nakkinam; nâpîlam; nitampam; pakam; pon; ponnuTampu; puTTam; irâciyam; vaTivu > \*\* I don’t know where they speak Tamil, but anyone that has that many names for the female reproductive organ can’t be all bad. 🙂 -b PS - I like to call it “Narnia,” as it’s a magical place beloved by many, access to which is not always easy. ---
**Author:** ![Tygr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df788c/32.png) [@Tygr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tygr)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2001, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355/60 "2001-05-18T22:38:52Z")
I’m terribly sorry, but all this discussion re: My Favorite Place on Earth to Rest My Tongue, has got me feeling a mite “Wich Doctor”-ish… (sings) _Hoo-hee, **hoo-ha** ha, ting, **'tang** , walla-walla, bing-bang…_ Okay, I’m done. And, sorry, but Mrs. Tygr has asked me not to reveal what we call her whoopsie-diddle. Oops. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminology-for-the-female-reproductive-area-or-what-do-you-like-to-call-it/65355.md?page=4)