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One of the stories my uncle Leo told me about the war…

He served in WWII, in the European theater, and while the U.S. sent segregated troops, they found that the Europeans weren’t biased in the same way that the white American soldiers generally were. He told me, the white Americans especially sought to keep European women away from the African American soldiers, so they put about the rumor that the black soldiers "had tails".

Talk about misunderstanding basic human nature. 🙄

The women, who had probably just seen the black men as men, became very curious and were subsequently watching for the black soldiers and approaching them en mass. My uncle, who was 18 and single (and very handsome) back then was asked if he "had a tail" and said his standard reply was, "only in front !" 🤭
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DrWatson · 70-79, M
Guess what? According to my Cassell's Latin-English dictionary, "penis" was the Latin word for a tail!
ninalanyon · 61-69, T
@DrWatson Really? I always thought tail was cauda. I haven't got my Latin dictionary with me so I can't check but Google Translate says penis (Eng.) = penis (Lat.)
DrWatson · 70-79, M
@ninalanyon "Cauda" was one word for tail, but "penis" is one as well.

And since brushes were made from animal tails, there were related words for brushes of different sizes:

peniculus was a brush
penicillus was a tiny brush, or a writing instrument

I am guessing that this is where we get our words pen and pencil.

"Cauda", on the other hand, was used in the expression "caudam trahere", meaning to wear a tail, with the implication of being a fool. Perhaps that has a connection to "pin the tail on the donkey."

Looking at the two entries in my dictionary, it seems that "cauda" was used with metaphorical implications (foolish) whereas "penis" was the straightforward anatomical term for a tail. On the other hand, "penis" has a secondary definition, "membrum virile". (Which would mean that using that word for the male organ was actually a slang term!)

And this is why I love print dictionaries. They often give more nuance than online translations.