# When did Beaver become a word for a woman's parts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681 "2015-09-18T15:17:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/41 "2015-09-19T21:22:49Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > See my post #11. It was a unique nickname based on Wally’s pronunciation of Theodore. > > It is kind of odd, though, that this explanation wasn’t offered until the final episode. It wasn’t \*explained \*until the final episode, but it was noted in [the very first season](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,868114,00.html). > [@](#): > > “Is that your given name?” asks a puzzled teacher. “Yes, my brother give it to me” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/42 "2015-09-19T22:16:50Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Molson Canadian “[Chasing Beaver](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvtPuWtmNPM)” Commercial. It says it is from 1965. > > The Double Entendres are not subtle. Although it’s labeled that way on some sites, it can’t possibly be from 1965. Aside from the fact that a commercial that risque could never have aired, at the time beer in Canada was almost exclusively sold as stubbies,[long-neck bottles not being introduced until the 1980s.](http://www.canadianliving.com/food/entertaining/canadian_beer_bottles_do_you_know_your_history_2.php) [Molson Canadian stubbie.](http://www.canadianliving.com/food/entertaining/remembering_canadian_stubby_beer_bottles_4.php) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/43 "2015-09-20T00:35:36Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Although it’s labeled that way on some sites, it can’t possibly be from 1965. > > Aside from the fact that a commercial that risque could never have aired, at the time beer in Canada was almost exclusively sold as stubbies,[long-neck bottles not being introduced until the 1980s.](http://www.canadianliving.com/food/entertaining/canadian_beer_bottles_do_you_know_your_history_2.php) > > [Molson Canadian stubbie.](http://www.canadianliving.com/food/entertaining/remembering_canadian_stubby_beer_bottles_4.php) Not to mention that neither CBC or CTV broadcast in color (or colour) until 1966, so why would Molson spend the money to film in color. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/44 "2015-09-20T01:16:19Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > If you want to nitpick the precise definition of buck teeth, let’s just say that he had fairly large front incisors, as shown in the photo I linked to. See also [here](http://www.theautographguys.com/images/uploads/JERRY%20MATHERS%20A.JPG) and [here.](http://static.parade.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/jerry-mathers-leave-it-to-beaver.jpg) > > Now they may not have been extraordinarily large, but the assumption that the nickname might have been based on large front teeth was not implausible. I thought he was called 'The Beaver b/c of his large front incisors too, I think he was called Beaver b/c he his brother Wally called him that first [Leave It to Beaver (TV Series 1957–1963) - FAQ - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050032/faq) Yup I was right ! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/45 "2015-09-20T02:23:18Z")
> [@purplehearingaid](#): > > I thought he was called 'The Beaver b/c of his large front incisors too, I think he was called Beaver b/c he his brother Wally called him that first > > [Leave It to Beaver (TV Series 1957–1963) - FAQ - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050032/faq) Yup I was right ! You could have just read post #11 too.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/46 "2015-09-22T01:04:14Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > …in the context of ballplayers sneaking around roofs to catch sight of naked women in other hotel rooms. “Beaver-shooting” was the code phrase, in at least 1969-70. Ah, the evanescent grace and charm of a vanished world of elegance in yesteryear… It was a different time: people wouldn’t understand now. Some countries they’d arrest you. _And_ beat you up on the way to jail. According to Jeeves books, small kids shouted out "_Beaver !"_ at any aged gent with a beard in the '20s. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/47 "2015-09-22T01:17:28Z")
Claverhouse, there is a little context to the anecdote. I believe you’re in Britain, and so may not get that–but until the late 1960s athletes, in this case baseball players, were portrayed as unblemished heroes by the press, which covered up their more off-color escapades. The book “Ball Four” was intended to be funny and salacious, but also to let Americans know what the “good guys” were really up to. Very much in keeping with the cultural currents of the late 1960s. I don’t know if anything similar would have happened in Britain around, say, football or cricket. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/48 "2015-09-22T01:30:55Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You could have just read post #11 too.😉 I didn’t read every post ! I have heard June saying to Ward “He was too hard on the Beaver last night” and I had forgotten about 'beaver ’ being a word for a woman part. It’s very funny no one of the show picked up on this . you never saw June and Ward bedroom so this had to been an huge oversight . ---
**Author:** ![Dirty\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aca169/32.png) [@Dirty\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dirty_Al)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/49 "2015-09-22T03:13:28Z")
It might be interesting to learn that in Beaver, Wisconsin their liquor store is named (Yes, you guessed it!) Beaver Liquors! Ain’t America Great? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/50 "2015-09-22T03:26:05Z")
> [@purplehearingaid](#): > > I didn’t read every post ! This being GQ, you should probably check to see if the answer has been given already, especially when it’s within the first dozen posts. > [@](#): > > I have heard June saying to Ward “He was too hard on the Beaver last night” Cite? No one else has been able to find this exact quote. > [@](#): > > It’s very funny no one of the show picked up on this . you never saw June and Ward bedroom so this had to been an huge oversight . You really should read the thread. It’s been explained already that it did not become common knowledge until sometime in the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/51 "2015-09-22T06:07:40Z")
Nobody on Leave It To Beaver ever said exactly “Beam Me Up, Scotty” either, AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/52 "2015-09-22T10:37:46Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Cite? No one else has been able to find this exact quote. Considering how long this meme has been around and the hive-mind of the Internet, if the quote did exist, _somebody_ would have a clip on YouTube by now. (Kinda like “Up the butt, Bob!” or Carl Sagan’s “billions and billions”.) So my money’s on the theory that she never said those precise words. I saw a bumper sticker in the mid-70’s that said, “Save a Tree, Eat a Beaver!” At the time I was way too young to get the sexual connotation, but boy howdy, the idea of _literally_ eating beavers was hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/53 "2015-09-22T10:55:36Z")
I think it worth mentioning that this is almost exclusively American and, possibly, Canadian. On this side of the Atlantic, we do get the connection, although I always assumed that the reference was to pubic hair (remember that?) rather than the genitals themselves. The word itself, is not considered at all sexual here. There are words that do the opposite of course - Fanny being one. Do not talk about ‘fanny packs’ if you are a visitor to the UK. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/54 "2015-09-22T11:21:52Z")
Is there an aisle at **Autozone** labeled _Women’s Parts?_ ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681/55 "2015-09-22T16:54:12Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I can tell you first-hand that it was a common junior high school adolescent term by 1965. > > And I went to Catholic schools.:eek: What does the Catholic schooling have to do with it? The Nuns taught you to use the term? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-beaver-become-a-word-for-a-womans-parts/731681.md?page=2)