Friggin' snakes (was Re: [thechat] he ain't heavy, he's my hampsterdance.)

David Wagner dave at worlddomination.net
Mon Sep 16 15:24:03 CDT 2002


Merriam-Webster:

"frig"
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): frigged; frigging
Etymology: Middle English fryggen to wriggle
Date: 1598
usually vulgar : COPULATE -- sometimes used in the present participle as a
meaningless intensive

One of my favorite words. I like that it evolved from "wriggle".

> > (The females also have a structure we don't usually think of in plural
> > terms. I've never heard it pronounced, so I'm guessing here, but I'd
> > call it .... "clitorii". [Found in a science book on snakes I bought that
> > was written by a collection of {somehow it figures} French scientists.])
>
> Are you talking about the little prong thingies that extend out from the
> cloaca (another great word)?

The "prong thingies" are called spurs, and they exist in pairs on both
male and female snakes (at least all of the snakes I know about). They are
used during mating, allowing two limbless animals to hang on to (and
stimulate) each other long enough to get the job done.

It's interesting to me that an animal that evolved without limbs would
keep vestiges of their legs for one purpose only -- sex.

The cloaca, by the way, is the most efficient cavity imaginable -- it's
the endpoint of both the intestinal and genitourinary tracts.

We should probably start up a whole new "theuselessfacts" list.

--

David Wagner
dave at worlddomination.net




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