A friend who doesn't post here asked me to ask this question:

Is the word pizzle related to piss or pee? Pizzle is a bull's penis, and my friend found it lately on the menu of a local restaurant. I know...you probably have the same question I had: Pizzle is on a menu?! Well, he tells me it's one of several meats offered in pho, a type of Vietnamese soup, most likely inspired by both French and Chinese cuisine. I have no idea if he is kidding about that or not!

So, Wordcrafters, pizzle, piss, pee...are they related?

So, Wordcrafters, pizzle, piss, pee...are they related?

Pee and piss are probably related. A-H gives the etymology of pizzle from the diminutive of the Low German pese 'penis': no doubt it's related to Yiddish pots (our English putz), dim. petsl (cf. shmok and shmekl). A pizzle is not just a bull's penis, it's a kind of whip made from a dried and stretched calf's penis. As for pho with beef pizzle, I've heard of weirder dishes: like cock testicle soup in a Taiwanese restaurant. And then there's prairie oysters. Most of the pho I've had has had sliced beef and beef tendon amongst its various meats. Googling seems to reveal that it's one of many kinds of soup and expensive (as one would imagine). I'll ask our neighborhood Vietnamese noodle shop and see what they have to say.

[Cleaned up the post a bit.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

What the hell does beef tendon taste like? I've seen it in the meat counter but never tried it.

What the hell does beef tendon taste like?

It doesn't really have much of a taste of its own. It's chewy and gelatinous. I always assumed it was for texture rather than taste. (You also find it in South Chinese beef stew soup noodle.)

The Wikipedia article talks about pizzle being used as a dog chew.

[Fixed typo.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

quote:

A-H gives the etymology of pizzle from the diminutive of the Low German pese 'penis': no doubt it's related to Yiddish pots (our English putz), dim. petsl (cf. shmok and shmekl).

Has anyone addressed the question of whether the noun prick (in the anatomical sense) comes from the verb to prick (non-anatomical) or rather from the complex of words zmj cites?

Wordnerd,

According to The Online Etymology Dictionary it comes from the Old English prica, ""point, puncture, particle", and not from the same source as the other words under discussion.

I was amused to read that My prick was used 16c.-17c. as a term of endearment by "immodest maids" for their boyfriends.

quote:

What the hell does beef tendon taste like? I've seen it in the meat counter but never tried it.

You're funny, neveu. You wonder what that tastes like when zmj has mentioned "a kind of whip made from a dried and stretched calf's penis" and "cock testicle soup."