Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #23
April 20, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
23.) Spraints
-noun plural, singular spraint
a.) The dung of an otter.
b.) The dung of various wild animals.*
[Origin: Old French espraintes, espreintes, and later French
['e]preintes from espreinte “a desire to go to stool,” from
the verb espreindre.]
*Sprainting is the act of marking territory by leaving dung. The term is used especially in Britain of deer, otters, and other larger mammals. It seems that our tribe is often the butt of jokes employing scatological humor. This term makes me imagine what it would be like if gays, often categorized themselves by the names of various fauna and other creatures, exhibited this behavior. I’ve encountered the following species to describe our various habits and incarnations: bears, cubs, wolves, otters, seals, pigs, capons, chickens, roosters, hawks, geese, ducks, birds, butterflies, bedbugs, fruit flies, toads, lobsters, tunas, fish, cats, puppies, dogs, rats, whales, octopuses, donkeys, moose, vampires, faeries, and trolls. Are there others I wonder? What a fantastic range of spoor we’d represent!
