To powder one’s nose
W.Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was the first person we know about to put the words ‘I must powder my nose’ into a woman’s mouth,but there must have been many since then.In a way it’s the ultimate toilet euphemism because there is nothing in it that remotely refers to defecation or micturition,merely an acknowledgement that,outside the cubicle,a woman might take a few moments to retouch her make-up.Certainly if one were to suggest that she was going to take a leak,0ne would get a very dirty look indeed,perhaps because that phrase is even more recent.In fact it comes from a writer at the very opposite end of the scale of gentility from Maugham: Henry Miller(1891-1980) ,and his novel Tropic of Cancer,which was published in Paris in 1934.The novel was eventually published in the United states in 1961,prompting a furore similar to that generated by Lady Chatterley’s Lover in the UK.If only Miller had shown more interest in euphemisms,there wouldn’t have been any such fuss.In fact,’I stood there taking a leak’ is one of the most respectable lines in the whole book.Such an activity,of course,like may such instances of toilet euphemism,is more likely to apply to a lady than to a gentleman.It’s a bit like the old adage that ‘horses and soldiers sweat,men perspire;women merely glow’.So bulls shit,men obey calls of nature…and women powder their nose.
Taken verbatim from
Balderdash&Piffle
The stories behind our most intriguing words and phrases
by Alex Games
W.Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was the first person we know about to put the words ‘I must powder my nose’ into a woman’s mouth,but there must have been many since then.In a way it’s the ultimate toilet euphemism because there is nothing in it that remotely refers to defecation or micturition,merely an acknowledgement that,outside the cubicle,a woman might take a few moments to retouch her make-up.Certainly if one were to suggest that she was going to take a leak,0ne would get a very dirty look indeed,perhaps because that phrase is even more recent.In fact it comes from a writer at the very opposite end of the scale of gentility from Maugham: Henry Miller(1891-1980) ,and his novel Tropic of Cancer,which was published in Paris in 1934.The novel was eventually published in the United states in 1961,prompting a furore similar to that generated by Lady Chatterley’s Lover in the UK.If only Miller had shown more interest in euphemisms,there wouldn’t have been any such fuss.In fact,’I stood there taking a leak’ is one of the most respectable lines in the whole book.Such an activity,of course,like may such instances of toilet euphemism,is more likely to apply to a lady than to a gentleman.It’s a bit like the old adage that ‘horses and soldiers sweat,men perspire;women merely glow’.So bulls shit,men obey calls of nature…and women powder their nose.
Taken verbatim from
Balderdash&Piffle
The stories behind our most intriguing words and phrases
by Alex Games
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