There’s really no way to drop “cunning linguist” into a context where “cunnilingus” would make equal grammatical sense, one of the marks of a truly great pun. No one is “cunning linguist.” They are “ a cunning linguist.” In contrast, “cunnilingus” is a mass noun, meaning it requires no article, and indeed, both looks and sounds really weird with one (“a cunnilingus”). But because “linguist” is a countable singular noun, it requires an article preceding it. “Cunning linguist,” as a linguistic unit, is comprised of a noun (linguist) with an adjective (cunning) modifying it. What’s more, “cunning linguist” isn’t even that good a joke, linguistically, beyond this obvious homophony. It’s easy, and dumb, and at this point quite predictable. Without getting into the gender politics surrounding the fact that even the most oblique reference to sexually gratifying a woman is considered a hilarious joke to many, let me assert that merely making an oblique reference to sexually gratifying a woman is not good humor. The primary problem with this joke is simply that it’s not funny. The idea is basically this: “Cunning linguist” both looks and sounds kind of like “cunnilingus,” which is the technical term for eating pussy. The Problem with “Cunning Linguist”īefore we get to the problem with “cunning linguist,” first we need to take a look at why in the first place people feel the need to trot it out whenever they possibly can. If you’re one of these people, I implore you.
Not with anything insightful, or original, or supportive, but with something like this:
Another person, upon reading or hearing it, makes a mad dash to comment. Maybe it’s not even related to language per se, but just displays an artful turn of phrase. It’s something many of us have probably seen: Some person or another makes a post on social media, or even makes a statement in real life, pertaining to language, grammar, linguistics, or the like. “Montero” is a medievalism informed by Black Theology and queer activism to present a queer Black power bottom offering salvation from destructive social structures.Warning: This post contains some mildly explicit language. Then, compared to medieval constructions of sodomy in Peter Damian’s Liber Gomorrhianus (The Book of Gomorrah) and the Pearl Poet’s Cleanness, “Montero” is identified as a liberatory text that challenges both sexual norms and pervasive ideologies that limit the spiritual and intellectual freedoms of people of color in Western Christian traditions. Beginning with a close reading, I analyze sexual power dynamics in the song lyrics, then the music video, before explaining how these two modes complement a narrative about sexual liberation from shame, particularly regarding the receptive male partner in sodomitic relationships.
#Cunning linguist plus#
Lil Nas X’s texts, the lyrics plus the video, empower power bottoms, and in doing so, Lil Nas X defies a long tradition of shaming the receptive male partner-a shame that is rooted in medieval ideologies. I argue that the protagonist of Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” assumes the role of a power bottom for the purpose of delivering audiences who identify with the power-bottom role from shame, which is personified by Satan in the music video.
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