Apparently the word "Butch" originated during the 1890's and referred to the female butchers who were big and strong and considered to be "hard fisted women of the people". Anyone heard anything different?
There are loads of theories as to the word "Dyke"- some say it came from 67AD during the reign of Boudicca Celtic queen. She led a revolt against the Roman Empire and was seen as a woman of great power and threat and given the title Dyke- "the powerful one"
Another theory is that it derives from the word "Dike" a French word meaning "men's' clothes".
Or it could have come from another meaning of the word "Dike" meaning to overdress to "be diked out" Now known as Decked out.
It would seem the mayor of Lesbos has rather taken against women calling themselves Lesbian- as his people are now too embarassed to call themselves lesbian also....Shame!
Went to see the Hadrian exhibition the other day at the Bristish museum...he was one of the most influencial and most feared rulers of all time and a raging puff- which I was really pleased to learn! They often seem to forget that little point don't they.....
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5 comments:
Interesting how people see only what they want to see. . . .
I'm now doing some research on this "Hadrian". Love history, but have not heard of this one? Even after making the husband watch all those "History Channel" shows. . . hmmm.
I love the history of words. Thanks for the comment on my traveling blog. Carrot cake, indeed! You are living in one of my favorite places on earth, you know...
GG
i think i read on wikipedia some tall tale about bulldyker being like the cattle equivalent of stud, and then being used to mean hypermasculine, and then just applied to masculine women, and both bulldagger and dyke being derived therefrom.
raging puff, lol!
and finally... you're tagged! show some factoid-listing prowess, will ya? stop by my place for the details.
Well I sorta knew about the history behind "lesbian" but not this word, pretty interesting theories. I didn't realise it was possibly such an old term.
And I'm all for giving them back their word and replacing lesbian with dyke. Makes us sound so sound much more hardcore ;)
wow very informative
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