Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Slang The buttocks.
  • noun Chiefly British Vulgar Slang The female genitals.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun UK, naval slang Mess kettle or cooking pot.
  • noun vulgar The female genitalia.
  • noun North America, informal The buttocks; arguably the most nearly polite of several euphemisms.
  • noun UK, vulgar Sex; similar to North American pussy

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps from Fanny, a nickname for Frances.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

The British naval slang sense derives from Fanny Adams. Tins of mutton introduced as rations were not liked by the sailors and were taken by them to contain the butchered remains of Fanny Adams who had been brutally murdered and dismembered. The tins were re-used for eating from and cooking with.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Origin unknown

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Examples

  • Stalwart individuals unshaken by the the narrow worldviews of others or the stigma surrounding the term fanny pack.

    The Speculist: Better All The Time #22 2005

  • In her mind, the term fanny pack, "is just eww, so cheesy, so tacky, so horrible."

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2011

  • In her mind, the term fanny pack, "is just eww, so cheesy, so tacky, so horrible."

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2011

  • (please note that in Australia a fanny is the front one, not the back one).

    zizi 2007

  • The boy who long ago kissed their bare shoulders, or the raspy-voiced best friend, bleating out hilarious comments about her puckered fanny from the next dressing room over at Eileen Fisher?

    What Girls Want 2008

  • The boy who long ago kissed their bare shoulders, or the raspy-voiced best friend, bleating out hilarious comments about her puckered fanny from the next dressing room over at Eileen Fisher?

    What Girls Want 2008

  • What you call a fanny pack obviously the start of a new fashion trend - the male bustle.

    The Indignity of Summer: It's Always Dorkiest Before the Fall BikeSnobNYC 2010

  • 'Oh Christ, you can't say 'fanny' - that sounds ridiculously childish, he'll just laugh at you.

    Archive 2009-03-01 juliette 2009

  • 'Oh Christ, you can't say 'fanny' - that sounds ridiculously childish, he'll just laugh at you.

    Neurotica juliette 2009

  • In Australia the fanny is different to what a fanny is in the US).

    Art News Blog Plans 2010

Comments

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  • Fanny (Be Tender with My Love), 1976, Bee Gees

    February 9, 2008

  • Also an old Irish tune called "Fanny Power." No, really.

    February 10, 2008

  • Heehee.

    February 11, 2008

  • "CUNT IS BEAUTIFUL. Suck it and see. If you're not so supple that you can suck your own fanny, put your finger gently in, withdraw and smell, and suck. There. How odd is it that the most expensive gourmet foods taste like cunt."

    - 'Lady love your cunt', Germaine Greer in The Madwoman's Underclothes.

    September 1, 2008

  • Take a load off Fanny / Take a load for free / Take a load off Fanny / And (and) (and) you put the load right on ME.

    October 23, 2010