ribaldry
nounUS /ˈɹɪb.əl.dɹi/
Etymology From Middle English ribaldrie, from Old French ribaulderie, ribauderie, equivalent to ribald + -ry.
1
Joking or humorous language or behaviour used in a vulgar or lewd fashion.
- Playes are the nurseries of vice, the bawd, / That thorow the senses steales our hearts abroad, / Tainting our eares with obscæne bawdery, / Lascivious words, and wanton ribaulry.1629, Fra[ncis] Lenton, “Section XIV. The Young Gallant’s Whirlgig.”, in James Orchard Halliwell, editor, The Marriage of Wit and Wisdom, an Ancient Interlude. […], London: […] Shakespeare Society, published 1846, →OCLC, page 129:
- His jargon of slang was a continuous joy and surprise to them. His gestures, his strange poses, his frank ribaldry of tongue and principle fascinated them.1903 February, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Hygeia at the Solito”, in Everybody’s Magazine, volume VIII, number 2, New York, N.Y.: John Wanamaker, →ISSN, page 175, column 1:
2 more examples
- Sometimes these sagas and anecdotes are touched with ribaldry, or with excessive obscenity, according to the times, and sometimes they are rooted in obscure but still verifiable deistic concepts.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 88:
- I remember girls with men's muscles flinging fish baskets while they yelled ribaldries at each other, and fishermen strutting among them in their oilskins, too grand to be bothered with anyone but themselves.1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:
- Related terms
- ribald