An examination of the etymology of the slang term "fanny"

What is it about?

It is commonly believed that the common slang term "fanny" (= vagina, or in the US = backside), is derived from the famous eighteenth-century erotic novella "Fanny Hill" (that is, John Cleland's "Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" 1748–49). This etymology was first suggested by Eric Partridge in his "Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English" in 1937, and has since become accepted 'fact' especially amongst scholars of eighteenth-century literature. However, the chronology of events is decidedly against such an interpretation. The slang use of "fanny" can only be reliably dated to the 1830s, and so to read any sexual meaning into characters named "Fanny" in earlier literature is to commit a clear anachronism. The paper also argues against interpreting any and every use of the name "Fanny" as a sexual innuendo, citing examples of late nineteenth-century erotica where Fanny is nothing more than merely a female character's name.

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Why is it important?

The interpretation of literary texts must avoid blatant anachronism. No one would dream of interpreting the word "stoned" to mean 'under the influence of marijuana' in any text before the 20th century, and thus equally so, literary scholars should should be careful not to commit such a blunder with the word "fanny".

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