Am I the only one...

14 comments

• SuperDude

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  13 years ago

  Rubber sounds like something really thick. Negative image. I believe Condom was the inventor of the device.
• troop

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  13 years ago

  i still call them rubbers.
• gsv

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  13 years ago

  "Rubber sounds like something really thick. Negative image." Yeah, I'd agree with that. I refer to them as condoms.
• inno123

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  13 years ago

  Rubbers sounds kind of juvenile.
• Rod8432

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  13 years ago

  Condom seems to strike a nice balance between the slightly crude "rubber" and the overly aseptic "prophylactic."
• joesparty

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  13 years ago

  "Cover" seems to be common too. Almost never hear rubber anymore.
• jackslash

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  13 years ago

  When I was a kid they called them "rubbers," but I haven't heard that word in a long time. All the dancers call them "condoms." (At least that's what I'm told.)
• Club_Goer_Seattle

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  13 years ago

  I too was first acquainted with the term "rubbers" in my jr. high years. (That's how old I am. I sense that most junior high schools are now termed "middle schools"). What I recall is that in the early and mid '80s, when the AIDS/HIV epidemic reached high levels of public awareness, the word "condom" was then in daily use in the media as common advice for reducing the risk of STD's. It was taken so seriously, that any slang terminology for "condoms" and "prophylactics" fell out of common use.
• SuperDude

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  13 years ago

  From Wikipedia Etymology and other termsThe term condom first appears in the early 18th century. Its etymology is unknown. In popular tradition, the invention and naming of the condom came to be attributed to an associate of England's King Charles II, one "Dr. Condom" or "Earl of Condom". There is however no evidence of the existence of such a person, and condoms had been used for over one hundred years before King Charles II ascended to the throne.[4]:54,68 A variety of unproven Latin etymologies have been proposed, including condon (receptacle),[20] condamina (house),[21] and cumdum (scabbard or case).[4]:70-1 It has also been speculated to be from the Italian word guantone, derived from guanto, meaning glove.[22] William E. Kruck wrote an article in 1981 concluding that, "As for the word 'condom', I need state only that its origin remains completely unknown, and there ends this search for an etymology."[23] Modern dictionaries may also list the etymology as "unknown".[24] Other terms are also commonly used to describe condoms. In North America condoms are also commonly known as prophylactics, or rubbers. In Britain they may be called French letters.[25] Additionally, condoms may be referred to using the manufacturer's name.
• boss435

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  13 years ago

  We always use Jimmy, cover or hat. Sometimes the dancer will whisper in my ear "do you have a condom". I've never heard a girl say cover rubber or Jimmy but they do say "protection".
• dudeanonymous

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  13 years ago

  What Club_Goer said matches my memories: they were "rubbers" until the 80s when STDs started daily making the nightly news and papers, where they were referred to as condoms. The word became the common usage. Most strippers wouldn't be old enough to even remember them being called rubbers.
• gatorfan

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  13 years ago

  call them wubbers - Elmer Fudd
• Machiavelli

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  13 years ago

  In the 80s, they were rubbers ... now, condoms, protection ... or, my favorite: "condos" ... (All hail Henry Rollins for that one) ...
• jackslash

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  13 years ago

  A dancer once asked me if I had "protection." I told her I had a Smith & Wesson.