Two websites have made me laugh aloud in the past couple of days. The first was a newish spanking blog – the wonderfully-named “Getting It”, by Caroline Grey. In one lovely post, she described how as she grew up, her didn’t-know-it-was-kinky-at-the-time imagination was inspired by reading adventure stories:  

One morning my mother caught me all tied up in bed. She was bemused, but I was a strange child and I don’t think she was really all that shocked. I explained that I was playing “Kidnapped” and she shook her head at me. She scolded me about the safety of such a thing. What if there was a fire and I couldn’t get away?

…A fire and I couldn’t get away! It was a whole new scenario to imagine!

I just loved that! (By the way, on the subject of new spanking blogs, if you’ve not found your way yet to the delightful Kami Robertson’s equally delightful “On the way of exploration”, I’d highly recommend it).

Later, Google News emailed me a clipping from the Fort Wayne Daily News. In it, a columnist ponders:

Question: Why is spanking and other forms of physical punishment called “corporal” punishment? Why not captain punishment or sergeant punishment.

Answer: Good question. I thought the answer would be easy to determine but after doing a bunch of checking on the Internet, I could not come up with a suitable explanation for the origin of that term. I will keep working on this and invite any help.

I mean, they actually employ people like that as journalists? Someone quickly posted the correct and obvious answer – but I think we should have a competition with a prize for the most innovative answer posted on the newspaper’s page. I’ve started the ball rolling, posting a comment that:

Beatkid’s theory is widely held to be true, but the origins of the word ‘corporal’ in this sense are actually rather older. In Roman days, when whippings were common, it was deemed inappropriate to flog girls with leather whips. So they used a lighter implement, made from the skins of hamsters – or, to give them their Latin name, Mesocricetus auratus corporalus.

My reply’s apparently in a moderation queue, so I don’t know whether it’ll eversee the light of day! But do go and join in the fun!