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