To think this attitude to names like Fanny in old books is silly?

[Carla786]

I've seen posts here agreeing with the new Enid Blyton editions that changed Fanny to Franny and Dick to Rick, some even saying she must have meant it as a double entendre.

 Just seems silly & narrow-minded to me. Not everything was always meant as a double entendre. Should Fanny Price in Mansfield Park also be changed? Or other characters called names that mean different things now? 

I remember my mother passed down a minor Blyton book with a kitten called Bimbo in. Was that Blyton being rude, or just due to the fact that Bimbo was slang for 'kid' then?

And I feel uncomfortable every time my child names a blue tit or talks about a cock(erel). There was a picture book about an arse (as in donkey) in the library we came across… How are these words so normal but also vulgar slang.
Anyone else know about similar examples in other languages?? (Sorry, for derailing the thread..)

My FIL was called Dick. Only my kids laughed. My childhood cat was called Bimbo named after Jim Reeves' "Bimbo" (1953) a cheerful, upbeat novelty song about a playful, charming little boy.

@Carla786

Dick Van Dyke is sometimes referred to as Penis Van Lesbian. (I don't think it's meant with any malice, so although I love DVD, so I don't tend to get worked up about it.)

The picture book would have been about an ass, surely? Not an arse!

Its thought the use of fanny for vaginas could be connected to the novel Fanny Hill, an 18th century smutty erotic book about the life of a prostitute.

Ha, yes. I’ve redacted unintentionally as to me that word sounds ruder.

He was ‘caught’ by his old headmaster.

He recognised Dick’s handwriting.

Bimbo brand bread is still a thing in Canada!

Maybe? The Grammarphobia article I linked implied it became common post-1830s or later, so some time after Fanny Hill, which was written in 1748. Surely didn't help though, anyway.

🤣

Yes, it's unfortunate : there may be other examples too.
I suppose the key thing is that until recently the double entendre was there but didn't overwhelm the word. Arguably language etc & norms became more openly sexual post 60s which is part of it...

Once on a baby name forum, I came across a young woman who really, truly didn’t know that Dick as a nickname for Richard predated dick as a slang term for penis. She was trying to figure out why people used to call their sons a name that meant penis, and how anyone had ever thought that was okay.

Changing the names of fictional characters just contributes to ignorance like that. YANBU.

Can I ask which other 2 languages you speak?

Ah that's interesting- shows 'Bimbo' could still be a nickname in the 50s so makes sense Blyton used it in the 40s.

We are not at all prissy about 'fanny' over here.

Hence 'fanny pack'.

We also have public loo cubicle doors that horrify many British tourists.

Probably double entendres with a word meaning an innocent thing (not a name) and a sexual/genitalia thing occur in all languages?
I see what you mean but I think it's important not to let sexual meanings take over words entirely. Before they seemed to be able to coexist... we can't exactly remame the blue tit, the great tit, Cockerel, ass etc And anyway ass is a US term, the UK term at least doesn't mean donkey.

Shakespeare has loads of sexual puns coexisting with innocent meanings: 'light' meaning not heavy but also sexually immoral, die meaning orgasm (and 'cock ' ' ' ' had that meaning then too) etc... but crucially back then they didn't swamp and totally take over the usual meaning.

There's also a huge bakery conglomerate called Bimbo in the US. It's a Mexican company with holdings in North America. The Bimbo brand is known for its sliced pans. Pronounced Beem-bo.

Yes I think some people on Mumsnet think all Americans are very Puritanical. They forget how much diversity there is as it's such a big country. I do think SM US rules about showing breast pictures etc (a comic I follow on IG got censored for showing breasts non sexually) are more prudish but that's one particular thing.

Agree totally.

@Carla786

Ass means donkey in British English just as in American English.

It has the other meaning in American English based on traits ascribed to donkeys.

Interesting, why is it called that I wonder? Is it the founder's name?

Sorry, I meant that ass doesn't mean bottom in UK English, only donkey!

On the topic of Blyton names..did anyone else who read Malory Towers think Darrell Rivers could have had a better name? Not rude obviously in any interpretation, but named after the middle name of Blyton's husband Kenneth Darrell Walters. Why not just give her a girl's name?

My Dad was called Dick his whole life, real name Richard of course. It was never commented on in life except by my mums hairdresser who was a bit younger and who always referred to him as Richard as she couldn’t bare to say it. He died last year aged 95. At his funeral the celebrant insisted on referring to him as Richard as she also felt it to be problematic and It absolutely infuriated me.

I'm sorry 🫂 That sounds awful behaviour. People should be referred to by the name they wish..and at a funeral someone definitely shouldn't be imposing views on what their name should have been.