Q: I was listening to a discussion on talk radio about the use of the word “junk” in reference to the male genitalia. Some people were saying it goes back to the ’60s. Do you have a take on this? The subject was inspired, of course, by the TSA’s body scans and pat-downs.
Speaking of “junk,” the noun entered English around 1400, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
The word has meant a lot of things over the years, including inferior rope, narcotics, and rubbish.
And it’s given us such noun phrases as “junk art,” “junk bond,” “junk food,” and “junk mail.”
We’d guess that the genital usage will be going viral now, thanks to the Transportation Security Administration.
In the Nov. 13, 2010, incident at San Diego Airport, John Tyner, a software engineer, refused a full-body scan.
During the alternative pat down, he told the screener, “If you touch my junk, I’m going to have you arrested.” Tyner captured the incident on his phone and posted the video online.
[Note: This post was updated on April 2, 2024.]
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