Date sent: Wed, 04 Mar 1998 10:46:19 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: sex and stars
From: Steve Cartwright <[log in to unmask]>
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>> Penitentials from Anglo-Saxon England reveal the Church
>> to have been involved in the cataloguing of sexual practices, and in
>> establishing
>> the various degrees of penance attendant on certain acts. These acts run
>> the gamut of sexual practice. The Church in Anglo-Saxon Englandwas
>certainly
>> involved from the start in attempting to regulate marriage and sexual
>> practice.
>Stephen or anyone,
>When I went to college, the number 69 had obscene connotations, at least among
>undergraduates. It was supposed to be a euphemism for oral sex, based on the
>6 and the 9 being upside-down versions of one another.
>Somebody told me this usage is not modern, and goes all the way back to the
>penitentials. Anyone know anything about this?
>pat sloane
I suppose it would depend on whether Arabic numerals were being used in
penitentials. When did they start replacing roman numerals?
Steve Cartwright
Arabic numerals don't come into Latin Christendom until the 12th c and then
only for astronomy and higher flights of arithmetic, i.e. at a learned level.
In ordinary daily accounting Roman numerals were the norm until at least the
16th if not the 17th c and you will find them frequently later
Julia Barrow
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