Cunt. There, we said it. We got it out of the way. But where does the word cunt actually come from? Why is cunt so offensive? What's it got to do with vaginas? And how has c-word usage changed over time? From its feminist origins to how it became a word for vagina, we’ve got the definitive history of the word and answered all the questions you’re desperate to know.
Where does the word cunt come from?
You history of the word cunt is fascinating. Seriously, if they taught us this in GCSE history then you’d bet we’d have actually listened! There are many original sources for the c-word, some Germanic and some Scandinavian but it actually goes as far back as the Latin language and the word ‘cunnus’ meaning vagina.
“No one knows the precise origins of the word cunt in the Germanic language. It appears throughout Germanic languages… and can be traced back to the old Norse ‘kunta’ and Proto-Germanic ‘kunto; but before that cunt appears to be quite elusive,” says Kate Lister, author of A Curious History of Sex (out Feburary 2020).
Even further back than that, there were apparently inscriptions on pre-alphabet runes that read ‘kunt’- basically the ancient version of writing on the nightclub toilet cubicle.
Did Shakespeare invent the word cunt?
While no one can really pinpoint the origin of the word, it has appeared rather a lot in literature and Shakespeare (the man who pretty much invented the modern day English language) was a fan.
The answer to whether he invented the word is both yes and no. Shakespeare is, however, largely responsible for cunt euphemisms. As we’ve already explored, the word goes way back but good old Shakespeare is probably the reason we throw about the word these days.
Shakespeare was a dab hand with words and pretty clever when it came to writing. Rather than actually use the ‘c-u-n-t’ version that sounded harsh and, thanks to those 1500s religious types was seen as a demonic thing, Shakespeare liked to use a whole lot of euphemisms.
The most iconic reference to cunt can be found in Act Three Scene Two of Hamlet:
“Do you think I mean country matters? That’s a fair thought to lie between a maid’s legs!”
Oioi!
Cunt is also referenced in Canterbury Tales by Chaucer in the 14th century, although Chaucer uses the word quaint as a substitute this time, “He prively caught her by the queynte” he writes.
Who was goddess Kunti?
The Hindu Godess Kunti represented the beauty of the female form and it could be here that ‘cunt’ started to take its meaning. Sadly, puritans in South Asia would have shrines of her destroyed because they believed that female genitals were the source of all evil <eye roll>.
Why is cunt offensive (to some people)?
When did cunt become an offensive term? Is cunt actually offensive? And is the word cunt a feminist issue? There’s so much to unpack with this four letter word, but now we know where it comes from it sheds some light on just why it’s seen as pretty vulgar these days.
“Cunt hasn’t always been offensive. In the Middle Ages, cunt was simply a descriptive word and can be found in medical texts. There was even a Gropecunte Lane in London in the early 13th century. [The word cunt] only started to become offensive in the early modern periods when puritans started to stigmatise sexuality,” Kate Lister adds.
Is cunt a feminist term?
Cunt can absolutely be a feminist term. “Reframing words like cunt is important because it’s so uncomfortable and confronting, it feels obscene to say it,” says porn performer Misha Mayfair. “Cunt has been used against so many people. Turning the tools of oppression into something we can then own is an expression of feminism that I personally love and think more people should practice.”
Misha, who was nominated for Pornhub’s top fetish performer, adds, “We can’t control the hateful rhetoric that some spew about us, but we can take their words and make them powerful, playful, angry or sexy”.
We couldn’t agree more!
So what do you make of it? Is cunt still offensive? Or do you like to throw it about left, right and centre? It seems attitudes are changing but can cunt ever lose its stigma? Maybe best not to use it in front of your Nan just yet, though.
