It Just Occured to Me

[10pmpacifictime]

We all know the phrase "to make one's head swell" and its variations. Is it possible that it actually originates not from the idea that praise or egotism enlarge one's cranium, but rather swells a different sort of head?

Discuss.

Comments

[superquail]

Well, if it hasn't occurred to anyone before, it certainly has occurred to me NOW. If I were in a serious frame of mind I would say that referring to the tip of the penis as the "head" may be a fairly recent slang, whereas causing someone's head to swell from pride sounds like its been around for awhile.

However, I am not in a serious frame of mind and so I will say that fora certain portion of the population (say about half) the difference between the one head and the other may not be so great. ;)

[10pmpacifictime]

Well, I'm fairly certain that "head" as a euphemism for the glans has been around since at least the time of Shakespeare and possibly even Chaucer. So I think it's reasonable.

[superquail]

Really? I learned something very important today!

[georgetheflea]

Why would praise arouse someone? Maybe if you were saying something like, "Don't go seducing him, he'll get a swelled head" it would work, but otherwise I don't see any way that the one phrase would have any connection to the occassionally used double meaning of "head".

[superquail]

Well, here's how I think about it:
Someone is telling me that I am awesome, and that makes me feel good about myself.
Feeling good about myself, makes me want to fuck.
Q.E.D.