There's a story doing the rounds on the BBC today about teenage sexual health. One thing that keeps being mentioned is that you can't advertise condoms on TV. I'm sure I've seen such adverts in other countries on UK TV programs about funny overseas adverts.

But it set me wondering - if you were advertising condoms wouldn't you want a different name for them? It's not the connotation that irks me, it's the word...con-dom. For some reason it just sounds odd and unappealing. So I wanted to know where it came from and looked it up in the OED. They don't record an etymology, but note that there is an unconfirmed suggestion that there was a Dr Condom, or Conton, or similar in the 18th century.

But the historical quotes are more interesting:

1744 The Machine 10 Let not the Joy she proffers be Essay'd, Without the well-try'd Cundum's friendly Aid.
1936 D. V. GLASS Struggle for Population iii. 35 [In Italy] condoms are listed as preventatives of disease and not as birth-control appliances, and are thus easily available.

The message has been the same for 250 years!  Particularly interesting that second one, as it implies that the Vatican were less concerned about them then as a means of preventing disease than they are now.

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