Buzz
With countless words in the English language, it’s nearly impossible to know every definition. However, it’s quite amusing to uncover the quirky names for small things we often overlook. For instance, petrichor refers to the scent that lingers after rainfall. Or aglet, the tiny plastic piece at the end of a shoelace. While these terms are interesting, wouldn’t it be even more fun if they sounded just a little more… risqué?
Here are 10 unexpected things that have names which may sound inappropriate, but aren't in reality.
10. Bunghole
If you're a fan of Beavis and Butthead, you might recognize this term. However, unless you're into barrel-making, the true meaning might elude you.
A bunghole is a small opening in a barrel that holds liquid, allowing it to be drained. Typically, it’s sealed with a cork of some sort. The comedic potential of this word dates back to 1653, found in a translation of Gargantua by Francois Rabelais, where 'bunghole' was listed as one of many insults.
Since then, the meaning of the word has taken on a more… shall we say, playful connotation. From Beavis and Butthead to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, most people now use ‘bunghole’ as a family-friendly alternative for ‘butthole.’
9. Vagitus
Though it sounds like a brand of yeast infection treatment, ‘vagitus’ actually refers to the cry of a newborn baby. In ancient Roman mythology, Vagitanus was a deity associated with childbirth, particularly the moment when the child first cries out.
However, this is distinct from the child’s first spoken words, which were overseen by the god Fabulinus, a completely different figure. So, ‘vagitus’ specifically refers to the sounds and cries of a newborn during birth.
This term has been in use for centuries, with notable figures such as Pliny and Saint Augustine referencing variations of the phrase.
8. F-Hole
Many acoustic instruments have hollow wooden bodies that amplify the sound produced by the strings. For the sound to escape, these instruments feature openings (think about the hole in the center of a guitar).
In violins, these openings are called f-holes. But don’t get any funny ideas – the ‘f’ doesn’t stand for anything; it simply describes the shape of the hole. This design wasn’t created just for aesthetics; it’s the result of centuries of trial and error to optimize sound amplification. According to MIT acoustician Nicholas Matrkis, a longer sound hole allows more sound to escape. The narrowness of the f-hole takes up less space on the instrument while producing the same amount of sound as a rounder hole.
7. Interrobang
Humans are incredible. Over the centuries, we've devised ways to make life simpler with innovations like the printing press, the Internet, the telephone, and the... interrobang.
No longer do you need to type or write both an exclamation point and a question mark to express confusion and excitement simultaneously. Thanks to the invention of the interrobang in 1962, you can save time by using this hybrid punctuation mark.
Martin K. Speckter, the writer behind the interrobang, thought advertisements could benefit from using a single mark for rhetorical questions like “How many times has this happened to you!?” instead of two. After designing the symbol, he named it the interrobang, combining the Latin word 'interrogatio,' meaning 'cross-examination,' with 'bang,' the slang for an exclamation mark.
While it’s not widely used, the interrobang looks like a question mark with an exclamation point inside it. Sure, you could use both separately, but where’s the fun in that‽
6. Gynecomastia
If you have a passion for etymology, you might be able to guess the meaning of this term. ‘Gyne’ is an ancient Greek word that translates to ‘feminine,’ while ‘mastia’ means ‘breasts.’ Think of words like gynecologists and mastectomy. While this seems pretty clear, in this case, the combined words actually refer to male breasts.
These are often referred to as ‘man boobs,’ but they’re actually something quite different. An overweight man may have a larger chest, but gynecomastia is a specific medical condition where a man develops excessive breast tissue. This can result from various causes, such as hormonal imbalances leading to higher estrogen levels. Interestingly, more than half of male babies are born with enlarged breasts, but this swelling typically fades within a few weeks.
5. Aphthong
“One knight, a king, and a queen went to bed. The doors were locked; no one entered, and no one left. The next morning, the king and queen had been murdered. Who did it?” This riddle doesn’t make much sense on paper, but say it out loud to a friend, and the aphthong in “knight” will mislead them into thinking the word should be “night.”
An aphthong refers to a letter that exists in a word but is not pronounced. ‘Knight’ actually contains two such letters: the ‘k’ at the beginning and the ‘gh.’ Sure, you could just call them ‘silent letters,’ but then you wouldn't get to show off your linguistic knowledge.
Catch that?
4. Peen
The less frequently used side of a hammer has an even less flattering name—the peen. Ball-peen hammers, or machinist’s hammers, are primarily used in metalworking. In this field, ‘peening’ refers to the process of working a metal’s surface to enhance its material properties, typically by mechanical means.
Regardless of whether the hammer is a ball-peen type, the non-flat side of the hammer is always referred to as the peen, whether it’s a ball, wedge, or cross.
3. Throbber
Some call it the spinning pinwheel, some call it the loading circle, and some call it the… throbber.
Well, not many call it the throbber, even though that is the official name of any animated graphical control element that shows a computer is performing an action. They’re frequently shown when downloading content or calculating something. The icon is also often mixed up with a progress bar, though there’s one large difference. Throbbers don’t show you how far your computer is in the loading process.
So, who came up with this brilliant and not-at-all-sexual name? Before Internet Explorer was introduced, there was Netscape. This web browser’s loading icon was a blue “N” expanding and contracting, giving the impression it was throbbing. And that’s the name they went with.
I think I’ll stick with “loading circle.”
2. Tittle
Everyone knows that the most exciting part of learning to write is dotting your “i’s.” Or should I say “tittling” your “i’s?”
That’s right, it's no ordinary dot. The small mark above the lowercase “i” and “j” is called a tittle. Don't believe me? Take it up with the Bible. Matthew 5:18 says, “For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.” While Matthew likely wasn’t referring to the dot above the letter “i” specifically, he used it as a metaphor for something small or insignificant.
Of course, not many people use this term in their daily conversations, but you may be unknowingly saying something similar. It’s believed that the phrase “to a T” originated as “to a tittle,” meaning that everything was considered down to the smallest detail.
1. Crapulence
No, this isn’t a term coined by The Simpsons.
Not to be mistaken for the polite term for a fart, “crapulence” is a word that perfectly mirrors its meaning: “sickness or indisposition caused by overeating or excessive drinking, especially alcohol.” In simpler terms, it's a more fun way to describe bloating or a hangover.
Interestingly, the word has quite a deep etymological background. It comes from the Latin adjective “crapulosus,” which itself originated from “crapula,” meaning “intoxication.” The Greeks used “crapula” to describe the headache that follows a night of heavy drinking. In the 1700s, “crapula” evolved into “crapulence,” a broader term for illness after drinking, not just the headache.
While you might think this word or the Latin root is why we use “crappy” for something bad, you'd be mistaken. “Crap” actually comes from a British term meaning “residue from rendered fat.” Even more bizarre, the term “crapper” for a toilet isn't linked to either of these words. Thomas Crapper, who revolutionized plumbing in the 1800s, is the reason we call toilets “crappers.”
That’s a lot of historical crap.
