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"gonorrhea," 1587, of unknown origin, perhaps from M.E. claper, from O.Fr. clapoire, originally "rabbit burrow" but given a slang extension to "brothel." Originally also a v., "to infect with clap."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Answer

The term comes from the Paris neighborhood Clapier because of it's large number of prostitutes during the 14th century.

AnswerAlthough it is not completely agreed upon how this became a slang term for the disease, it is thought it came from the old French word "clapier" that meant "brothel" because of how common the disease was in these places.

Hope this helps!

Dr. B.

Answer

I think many of us have heard different things about the oigin of the word "clap" - but, Dr. B's post above makes the most sense. (Although, I thought "clapier" had something to do with rabbits...)

I always heard the legend that it was named "the clap" because an old treatment involved slamming a heavy book or object down on an infected penis, causing the discharge to come out. Doesn't sound very effective to me...and probably should have been called "excruciating smash with a book" infection.

AnswerI learned that the origin of the slang term "clap" was a misnomer or bastardisation of another word. A common complication of gonnorhea is scarification or collapse of the uretha. It was my understand that during the World Wars when the disease was so prevalent among GI's, the hospital wards where the men were treated other patients and the medical personnel would refer to these men as having "the collapse" which was bastardized into "the clap". For what it's worth, that sounds completely plausible to me, but I don't know that it's correct.

Mccuda, RN

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13y ago

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