At 7:03:30 PM on Monday, March 17, 2008, Patrick Ryan wrote:
> A 'dug' is an _animal_ teat, Rick.
Not true until relatively recently.
OED: 'The pap or udder of female mammalia; also the teat or
nipple; usually in reference to suckling. As applied to a
woman's breast, now contemptuous.' The earliest citation is
from Palsgrave (1530): 'Tete, pappe, or dugge, a womans
brest.' It's apparently not attested before the 16th
century, and the etymology is unknown.
<Teat> (OE <tit(t)>) originally applied to human teats, but
at least by the time of Trevisa and Chaucer it was applied
to other female mammals. The same goes for <pap>, except
that it isn't attested until the Ormulum (~1200).
Brian