gunsel
See also: gunzel
Contents
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Yiddish גענדזל (gendzl, “gosling”), from Middle High German gensel, diminutive of gans (“goose”).
Noun[edit]
gunsel (plural gunsels)
- A young man kept for homosexual purposes; a catamite.
- 1929, Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon:
- The boy’s eyes […] ran over Spade’s body from shoulders to knees, […] ¶ “Another thing,” Spade repeated, glaring at the boy: “Keep that gunsel away from me while you’re making up your mind. I’ll kill him. […] ”
- 1929, Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon:
- (street and prison slang) A passive partner in anal intercourse.
Etymology 2[edit]
By misunderstanding of the 1929 Maltese Falcon quotation above (which survived in a popular 1941 film adaptation). The novel was originally serialized in a magazine, Black Mask, whose editor refused to allow vulgarities. Hammett used the word gunsel knowing that the editor would likely misunderstand it as relating to gun, and therefore allow it.[1][2]
Noun[edit]
gunsel (plural gunsels)