• dalekcaan@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    It’s not, actually. Some people thought it was, but apparently the creators had never heard of smegma before and it was just an unfortunate coincidence.

    • Hot Saucerman
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      1 year ago

      The creators may claim as much, but…

      Lexicographer Tony Thorne, in his 1990 Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (ISBN 0-7475-2856-X), reports instances of “smeg” (and derivatives) being used as a term of “mild contempt and even affection” among “schoolboys, students and punks” as early as the mid-1970s — a decade or so prior to the inception of the Red Dwarf phenomenon — and claims unequivocally that the etymology of the term traces back to “smegma”.

      • dalekcaan@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Alright, alright, people coming out of the woodwork to tell me about smegma, Jesus. You win the dick cheese argument. 'Gratz.