Parts of the Body

The vocabulary of food has been enthusiastically colonized for parts of the human body. But sweetness—perhaps inevitably, given its adoption by the world of affection—tends to one area: the sexual. While there are exceptions—“biscuit” (the head), “cakehole” (the mouth), “jelly snatchers” (the hands), and the rhyming “tarts” (gooseberry, jam, raspberry, or strawberry) for heart—the primary links remain lubricious. If the beloved is “good enough to eat,” then slang’s appetite also encompasses her or his constituent parts.