Cornhole (slang)

Cornhole (sometimes corn hole) is a sexual slang vulgarism for the anus.[1] The term came into use in the 1910s in the United States.[2] Its verb form, to cornhole, which came into use in the '30s, means 'to have anal sex'.[2][3]

For other uses, see Cornhole (disambiguation).

Connotations and variants

The term is apparently derived "from the practice in the days of the outhouse of using dried corn cobs for toilet paper."[4][5]

By the middle of the 20th century, the term was used among American criminals.[6] According to a 1944 report on male-male prison rape, the term had taken on a more specific meaning of taking the penetrative role in anal sex.[7] It was also popularized in part through use in gay culture.[8][9]

In a similar context, a corn husk is a "condom", especially one manufactured for anal intercourse.[10]

According to linguist Jonathan Lighter, to cornhole and variant non-derived synonyms have developed as compound verbs: to corncob [1975] and to corndog [1985].[11] Linguists have noted the verb form as an example of possible compound verbs in English. There is debate whether such words are genuine compounds or pseudo-compounds.[12]

Cornholio, the alter ego of Beavis from Beavis and Butt-head, is a play on the word cornhole, as his catch phrase is “I am the Great Cornholio! I need TP for my bunghole!"[13][14] The personality of Cornholio, in turn, became inspiration for the cocktail called the "Flaming Cornholio".[15]

Comedian George Carlin made a short skit about that word in his 2005 show "Life Is Worth Losing", praising it for being tough-sounding and thus more honest than equivalent politically correct terms like "anal intercourse" or "anal rape" (a notion he elaborated upon repeatedly in earlier shows, in particular in a famous rant about the euphemism treadmill which caused the word "shell shock" to evolve into "post-traumatic stress disorder"), then imagining its use in a forensic investigation scene of a police procedurals television series ("That there is a posthumous, multiple cornhole entry wound"), or pointing out that "in prison it's a social activity".[16]

See also

References
  1. Munier, Alexis (2010). The Big Black Book of Very Dirty Words. Adams Media, ISBN 9781440509605
  2. Green, Jonathon (2006). Cassell's Dictionary of Slang: A Major New Edition of the Market-Leading Dictionary of Slang. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., ISBN 9780304366361
  3. Burke, David (2003). The Slangman Guide to Dirty English: Dangerous Expressions Americans Use Every Day. Slangman Publishing, ISBN 9781891888236
  4. McConville, Brigid; Shearlaw, John (1984). The Slanguage of Sex. Macdonald, ISBN 9780356103402
  5. Richter, Alan (1987). The Language of Sexuality. McFarland, ISBN 9780899502458
  6. Monteleone, Vincent Joseph (1949). Criminal Slang: The Vernacular of the Underground Lingo. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., ISBN 9781584773009
  7. Greco, MC; Wright, JC (1944). The correctional institution in the etiology of chronic homosexuality. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Volume 14, Issue 2, pages 295–307, April 1944 doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.1944.tb04878.x
  8. Baker, Paul (2004). Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang. Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 9780826473431
  9. Reuter, Donald F. (2006). Gay-2-Zee: A Dictionary of Sex, Subtext, and the Sublime. Macmillan, ISBN 9780312354275
  10. Victor/Dalzell eds (2007). The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Psychology Press, ISBN 9780415212595
  11. Lighter, Johnathan E. (1997). Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Vol. 2: H-O. Random House Reference, ISBN 9780679434641
  12. Erdmann, Peter (1999). Compound verbs in English: are they pseudo? In Dekeyser Xavier; Tops, Guy A. J.; Geukens, Steven Thinking English Grammar: To Honour Xavier Dekeyser, Professor Emeritus. Volume 12 of Orbis / Supplementa. Peeters Publishers, ISBN 9789042907638
  13. Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew (2008). "Simpsons Did It!" South Park as differential signifier. in Taking South Park Seriously. SUNY Press, ISBN 9780791475669
  14. Kellner, Douglas (2004). Beavis and Butt-Head: No Future for Postmodern Youth. In Steinberg, Shirley R.; Kincheloe, Joe. Kinderculture: The Corporate Construction Of Childhood. Westview Press, ISBN 9780813391540
  15. Gatti, Susan Irvin (2003). Fuzzy navels and slippery nipples: A sociolinguistic reading of the cocktail menu. The Journal of American Culture, Volume 26, Issue 1, pages 104–110, March 2003 doi:10.1111/1542-734X.00078
  16. "GEORGE CARLIN: LIFE IS WORTH LOSING (2006) - Full transcript". Scraps from the loft. 2016-12-28. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
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