Message 5/8
Date: 05-May-06 @ 02:24 AM -
RE: Merkins
Yes Milan, that's how I looked when I first heard of them!
But the plot thickens! The 8th ed OED doesn't list the word, yet the 5th does, and so does the 11th! This means that at some point the editors decided that the word was obsolete, then reconsidered and reinstalled it! Fascinating! On what grounds were those decisions made? What was it that clinched it for reinclusion!
Surfing, it's suggested that Chaucer used the term (if not the object) and that it has a possible permutation with the name Maud (who can look a Maud in the eye and keep a straight face after reading that?)
Associated with ladies of the street (a 'mercantile' joke should be made here) who were not too particular about the old hygiene, it was used to cover up scabs and rashes and other delights that might have had a negative impact on trade!
Don't think they have to be made from pubes, though this could be some sort of quality issue!
For the rest of us, burn the knickers of your women (careful grammar), or if you are female burn your own, and wear merkins!
Oh and K, don't be so disheartened, although I couldn't find anywhere saying they were for men, there's nowhere saying they aren't! If the urge takes you ...