Date: Tue, 31 May 1994 16:54:43 -0700

From: Roger Vanderveen rvander[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ICHIPS.INTEL.COM

Subject: Re: Earliest reference to "Mooning"





To follow up with respect to the baldness of simian rear ends:



One of my favorite passages in all of Chaucer occurs in the Parson's Tale

De superbia concerning the superfluity of clothing and scantness of

clothing:



Allas, somme of hem shewen the boce of hir shape and the horrible

swollen membres that semeth lik the maladie of hirnia, in the

wrappynge of hir hoses, / and eek the buttokes of hem faren as it

were the hyndre part of a she-ape in the fulle of the mone.

(X 423-24)



yes, one of my favorites, too--so I'll ask a question I asked several

months ago--what *is* the earliest attested use of the verb "to

moon"--wouldn't it be too wonderful if this sophomoric in-your-face

(excuse me) activity was related to ancient and medieval ape lore?

Kathleen Kelly



Rudy, what do you or your group make of this one? What is the earliest

usage of the current verb "to moon"? I learned it in my old age, but it

may well have been around for a while.



I think someone has missed the point. Certainly the passage refers to the

vaginal tissue of a female ape (chimpanzee, for example) which becomes bloated

and protrudes quite visibly during menstruation. The only connection with the

moon is the time of the cycle.



I can't imagine anything "wonderful" about anyone imitating this effect.



Roger