Cunt

Cunt (kʌnt) is a vulgar word for the vulva or vagina. It is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. "Cunt" is often used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United States, an unpleasant or stupid man or woman in the United Kingdom, or a contemptible man in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia and New Zealand, it can also be a neutral or positive term when used with a positive qualifier (e.g., "He's a good cunt"). The term has various derivative senses, including adjective and verb uses. In 2006, feminist writer and English professor Germaine Greer argued that cunt' is one of the few remaining words in the English language with a genuine power to shock." The earliest known use of the word, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was as part of a placename of a London street, Gropecunt Lane, 1230. Use of the word as a term of abuse is relatively recent, dating from the late nineteenth century. The word appears not to have been taboo in the Middle Ages, but became taboo towards the end of the eighteenth century, and was then not generally admissible in print until the latter part of the twentieth century. The etymology of cunt is a matter of debate, but most sources consider the word to have derived from a Germanic word (Proto-Germanic *kuntō, stem *kuntōn-), which appeared as kunta in Old Norse. Scholars are uncertain of the origin of the Proto-Germanic form itself. There are cognates in most Germanic languages, most of which also have the same meaning as the English cunt, such as the Swedish, Faroese and Nynorsk kunta; West Frisian and Middle Low German kunte; another Middle Low German kutte; Middle High German kotze (meaning "prostitute"); modern German kott; Middle Dutch conte; modern Dutch words kut (same meaning) and kont ("butt", "arse"); and perhaps Old English cot. The etymology of the Proto-Germanic term is disputed. It may have arisen by Grimm's law operating on the Proto-Indo-European root "create, become" seen in gonads, genital, gamete, genetics, gene, or the Proto-Indo-European root "woman" (gunê, seen in gynaecology).