Punk
Little known unrelated fact: "punk" derives from a Gaelic word (spong*) referring to hot ashes still containing sparks of fire, later coming to mean "worthless." In Shakespeare's England the word was a slang term for "prostitute." In the America of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the word specifically meant a "male prostitute servicing male clientele." But by the Roaring 20s, it meant mainly "young and inexperienced."
So I like the word in the context of wrestling because it retains its sexual punch, through near onomatopoeia, if by no other means, but remains vague enough to cover a variety of crimes and character failings. (* Yeah, we get our word "spunk" from spong, too, which came to mean "courage" and "initiative" in the late 18th century and acquired its associations with reproductive discharge in the late 19th century.)
Comments
Post a Comment