Getting Horny

Horny.

What a silly word to use when you’re talking about sexual arousal. Go ahead: toss the word around in your mind for a moment.

Does it incite feelings of romance? Does the very poetry of the word make you weak in the knees?

I’m guessing your answer is no. Of course, there’s another meaning for the word that goes back much further—all the way back to the 10th century in England, where the word meant simply something that resembles a horn.

You might be referring to a frog that looks like it has horns growing out of its head, or you might describe a physical feature like calloused skin or fingernails, something with the same traits as a horn.

If you owned something made of a horn, like one of those super-cool drinking vessels so-called barbarian types used, you might have said you had a horny cup:

You might even use it to describe something with actual horns: there goes a horny deer!

(Editor’s note: make sure you have the right audience, and not to slide inadvertently into Poe’s Law …