Register Log In Wordsmith.org Forums General Topics Q&A about words French Letter Search Advanced Forum Search Forums Calendar Active Threads

Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread French Letter #104015 05/22/03 07:08 PM Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 2,788 Seattle, Washington, USA Father Steve OP Carpal Tunnel OP Father Steve Carpal Tunnel Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 2,788 Seattle, Washington, USA The English use the euphemism "French letter" for a condom. Their choice of "French" is easily understandable, as anything "sexy" is attributed to the French by the English, e.g. "French postcards" are assumed to be naughty. But why "letter"? Wouldn't "envelope" have made more sense? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted French Letter Father Steve 05/22/03 07:08 PM Re: French Letter tsuwm 05/22/03 07:28 PM Re: French Letter Father Steve 05/22/03 08:00 PM Re: French Letter Faldage 05/22/03 09:07 PM Re: French Letter habrotrocha 05/22/03 11:52 PM Re: French Letter dxb 05/23/03 06:35 AM Re: French Letter Capfka 05/23/03 07:29 AM Wikipedia Sez Father Steve 05/23/03 09:37 PM Sexy French Things Father Steve 05/23/03 03:00 AM Re: French Letter TEd Remington 05/24/03 11:20 AM Re: French Letter Wordwind 05/24/03 12:09 PM Re: The shady origins of condom WhitmanO'Neill 05/24/03 06:31 PM Re: The shady origins of condom WhitmanO'Neill 05/24/03 06:41 PM Re: The shady origins of condom WhitmanO'Neill 05/24/03 06:46 PM Re: The shady origins of condom Buffalo Shrdlu 05/24/03 07:14 PM Re: The shady origins of condom Wordwind 05/24/03 08:00 PM Papyrus sounds uncomfortable TEd Remington 05/25/03 12:07 AM Re: Papyrus sounds uncomfortable Buffalo Shrdlu 05/25/03 12:19 AM Re: Papyrus sounds uncomfortable Wordwind 05/25/03 08:48 AM Re: French Letter RhubarbCommando 05/26/03 11:33 AM A Modest Proposal Father Steve 05/26/03 04:10 PM Re: French Letter wsieber 05/26/03 12:07 PM Re: French Letter Zed 05/26/03 04:01 PM Physician and Courtesan Father Steve 05/26/03 04:12 PM Re: Physician and Courtesan Capfka 05/26/03 07:06 PM Proto-HMO's Father Steve 05/26/03 08:50 PM Re: Proto-HMO's Buffalo Shrdlu 05/26/03 08:54 PM Re: Proto-HMO's Capfka 05/26/03 09:14 PM ¡Café Olé! AnnaStrophic 05/26/03 09:22 PM Re: ¡Café Olé! of troy 05/27/03 01:09 AM Re: ¡Café Olé! sjm 05/27/03 01:17 AM Re: Reina Isabela AnnaStrophic 05/27/03 12:56 PM Re: Reina Isabela of troy 05/27/03 04:26 PM Re: Reina Isabela sjm 05/27/03 07:51 PM Re: Reina Isabela wordminstrel 05/28/03 01:01 AM Re: Reina Isabela Vernon Compton 05/28/03 01:08 AM Re: Reina Isabela wordminstrel 05/28/03 01:13 AM Re: Reina Isabela sjm 05/28/03 01:22 AM shift happens wordminstrel 05/28/03 01:29 AM Re: shift happens Faldage 05/28/03 09:39 AM Re: shift happens WhitmanO'Neill 05/28/03 10:53 AM Shift doesn't just happen for one reason musick 05/28/03 01:54 PM Word for the day: Troll AnnaStrophic 05/28/03 02:39 PM Re: the good vigar Steve tsuwm 05/28/03 02:44 PM Re: What this country needs Faldage 05/28/03 02:49 PM Re: the good vigar Steve Buffalo Shrdlu 05/28/03 03:00 PM Re: the good vigar Steve Capfka 05/28/03 04:56 PM Re: the good vigar Steve Faldage 05/28/03 05:10 PM Re: the good vigar Steve of troy 05/28/03 05:51 PM Re: the good vigar Steve Zed 05/28/03 07:01 PM POTUS Capfka 05/28/03 07:20 PM Re: Reina Isabela of troy 05/28/03 11:19 AM The Unobsessed Vigar Father Steve 05/28/03 07:44 PM Re: The Unobsessed Vigar Rubrick 05/28/03 08:08 PM Re: The Unobsessed Vigar of troy 05/28/03 08:08 PM Re: The Unobsessed Vigar tsuwm 05/28/03 08:30 PM Re: The Unobsessed Vigar Faldage 05/28/03 09:09 PM Lavabo Father Steve 05/29/03 04:16 AM Re: Lavabo Capfka 05/29/03 06:43 PM Re: Lavabo Bean 05/30/03 11:03 AM Re: Lavabo Faldage 05/30/03 12:28 PM Re: Lavabo musick 05/31/03 09:26 PM Re: Lavabo Rapunzel 06/04/03 12:50 PM Re: Lavabo Bean 06/04/03 02:02 PM Re: Lavabo Capfka 06/04/03 09:08 PM It's called a lavabo TEd Remington 05/30/03 03:29 PM Re: It's called a lavabo wow 06/04/03 03:47 PM Re: ¡Café Olé! Capfka 05/27/03 06:41 AM Re: ¡Café Olé! Faldage 05/27/03 10:11 AM Re: ¡Café Olé! Capfka 05/27/03 10:45 AM Hebrew Dentistry Father Steve 05/26/03 09:47 PM 14th century "dentists" TEd Remington 05/30/03 03:23 PM Re: French Letter WhitmanO'Neill 05/27/03 02:04 AM Re: French Letter wow 06/01/03 04:13 PM Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Flat Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary Forum Statistics Forums16 Topics13,913 Posts229,331 Members9,182 Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011 Newest Members Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV 9,182 Registered Users Who's Online Now 0 members (), 854 guests, and 1 robot. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters(30 Days) wofahulicodoc 32 A C Bowden 15 ddrinnan 1 Top Posters wwh 13,858 Faldage 13,803 Jackie 11,613 wofahulicodoc 10,542 tsuwm 10,542 LukeJavan8 9,916 Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210 AnnaStrophic 6,511 Wordwind 6,296 of troy 5,400

Default Style BlackNTan Drab eBay GooG v2 infopop new dark new light original dark original stock rounded corners Slate snow sunny dropshadow theblues Touch Of Grey UBB.threads UBB.threads - Dark UBB.threads - Light UBBCentral UBBCentral - Crimson UBBCentral - Lime UBBCentral - Marshmallow UBBCentral - Mocha UBBCentral - Zen UBBT77 UBBT77 - Dark ubbthreads ubbthreads-dark Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith.org