Since we were talking the other day about the use of "blowjob" vs. "cunnilingus," I thought I'd mention some fun links I came across today. I was searching for various food-themed words for "penis," and one of the odder ones I came across was "plum tree shaker," which apparently dates to the 18th Century.

In trying to figure out why "plum tree shaker," my searching led me to a Slate article about "Names for Genitalia Throughout the Ages":

https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/08/male-and-female-genitalia-through-the-ages-jolly-stick-kidney-prodder-wazoo-twange.html

They point out there that the earliest attested word for testicle ("bullocks") preceded the earliest attested word for penis ("pin," c. 1460), which is interesting. But even cooler, the earliest attested word for vagina dates to 1230 and is a word that most of us still use regularly in our erotica ("cunt"). Now that's some impressive staying power! Ladies, you rule in the "oldest word for your sexual organ" department!

The man who calls himself "Mr. Slang" has an interesting Tumblr with links to timelines of apparently all the known words for sexual intercourse, genitalia, and other body parts (as well as all sorts of other topics, too):

https://thetimelinesofslang.tumblr.com/

Why exactly a penis was called a "plum tree shaker," I could never determine, but I did learn that plums (and especially prunes) is a term used for testicles, and a tree shaker is a tool used to shake a tree to cause the ripe fruit to fall. I'm not really sure how those two things combine together to wind up meaning "penis," but you know, people are funny when it comes to sex.

Let's share some of the funnier, or odder, or cooler, or older words we like to use for genitalia and other aspects of our writing here!