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Dr. Blau (1), in a recent article published in the PSYCHOANALYTIC QUARTERLY, expressed surprise 'that, except for scientific terminology, there seems to be no vernacular, slang or obscene word in the English or American language' to designate the clitoris. He reported, as a result of inquiries, a similar linguistic deficiency in French, German, Spanish, Russian, Hungarian, Polish, Armenian, Turkish, Hebrew, Italian and Arabic.
On the whole, it is possible to agree with Dr. Blau. The search in large dictionaries and personal inquiries even among sexologists prove to be singularly fruitless with regard to popular, nonscientific terms for the clitoris. Nevertheless, a more exhaustive philological study brings forth evidences of the existence of many designations not usually recorded in the more easily accessible sources of information. Even at that, I believe that Dr. Blau's premise is still valid, in the sense that popular names of the organ do not seem to be current among many people who can easily produce slang names for other sex organs, both male and female.
The following items are therefore contributed not for the sake of argument but mainly with the purpose of supplementing the data contained in Dr. Blau's article. Since the question of the nomenclature of the clitoris has been raised, it seems worth-while to have a more complate compilation. I have, therefore, given my attention to both 'scientific' and lay designations and was surprised at the relative multitude of such terms.
The word clitoris itself is of Greek origin. Its etymologic derivation is uncertain. klÎitoris is said to stem from klÎiÎin, to shut. It has been registered, together with the verb klÎitoriazw (touch the clitoris), by Pollux Archæologus (second