Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Blossom]

I went walking in the hills last Sunday with friends. There were several foreigners there. One had a bag fastened to his waist. I was told this was a fanny pack. I went red in the face because I thought he was being rude. I remembered Bud�s explanation about Miss Fanny Bright. They asked me why I was red and I told them about Bud�s explanation. They laughed at me and said he was stupid to say she was called that because her fanny was cold and had gone bright red. They said Miss Fanny Bright was the name of a girl. Her family name was Bright and her given name was Fanny.

I said that Fanny was a strange name and they told me of many famous Fannys, such as Fanny Farmer, Fanny Brice, and Fanny Crosby who wrote over 8,000 hymns.

[Bob S.]

[bud]

Wow, that was from a year and a half ago, Blossom... The name of Fanny Bright was in a spoof (funny lyrics) to the classic Christmas carol, "Jingle Bells." The original song romanticizes the idea of a ride in a one-horse open sleigh.

The spoof was claiming what a terrible experience it is being out in the cold and snow. It seemed clear to me that the name was a personification for "freezing your butt off." Maybe if they had seen the context, they would have agreed.

And I second Bob's opinion. "Fanny" is sute slang, not vulgar in any way.

Maybe I'll look for the original thread. It should be easy enough to find and it was a great spoof.

[Blossom]

Fanny: My MacMillan English Dictionary says:

1 BRITISH OFFENSIVE an offensive word for a woman's V A G I N A (=s e x organs)
2 AMERICAN INFORMAL OLD-FASHIONED the part of your body that you use for sitting on.

If it is old fashioned in America what is the modern term?

[Bob S.]

[bud]

Well, if it means butt in America and a woman's private parts in Britain, that could lead to some rather tragic misunderstandings when a Yank dates a Brit!!!

I don't think fanny is old-fashioned, but I do think it is much more likely to be used for a small child. And often it is used a little like a pronoun: You better get your little fanny into that bathroom right now and brush your teeth! (Often said as a playful warning.)

Other words (there are tons of them): tush, can, bottom, behind, rear, rear end, butt, derrier, kiester (or is it keister?),..

Cans (plural) is a disrespectful, but not very vulgar, term for female *beep*.

Also, I tried to find the full lyrics for the Fanny spoof, but found out that it is in fact a verse of Jingle Bells itself that I had never seen before.

[bud]

*beep* replaced a common term, the one you would use with a doctor, for the two projections a woman has on each side of her chest.

[Blossom]

I have been told that the lyrics in the post that you commented on, Bud, were the original serious words written by the author. It was not a spoof.

I was also told that the same author also wrote a song called, Ring the Bell, Fanny.