Date:  Thu, 25 Apr 1996 16:59:25 -0500

From:  "Kathleen M. O'Neill" <koneil1[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UIC.EDU>

Subject: Hysterical?



Am I the only person who uses

"hysterical" to mean "really funny"?



I just found this definition on

Webster's on the web...



>hys.te.ria or hys.ter.i.cal \his-'ter-e--*, -'tir-\ \-'ter-ik\

>  \-'ter-i-k*l\ \-i-k(*-)le-\ n [NL, fr. E hysteric, adj., fr. L hystericus

>  of the womb, fr. Gk ]hysterikos, fr. hystera womb; fr. the former notion

>  that hysteric women were suffering from disturbances of the womb 1: a

>  psychoneurosis marked by emotional excitability and disturbances of the

>  psychic, sensory, vasomotor, and visceral functions 2: unmanageable fear or

>  emotional excess - hys.ter.ic n



So I'm wondering about that.



Also, the question that sparked

this inquiry is what would be the

female genitalia equivalent of "phallic"?

Is there such a thing? (A word, that is.)



Thanks!



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