Douche
A
douche is a device used to introduce a stream of water into the body for medical or hygienic reasons, or the stream of water itself. The word comes from the
French language, in which its principal meaning is a
shower (it is thus a notorious
false friend encountered by non-native speakers of English; the phrase for vaginal douching is
douche vaginale, meaning
vaginal shower).
The word can refer to the rinsing of any body cavity but usually applies to
vaginal irrigation, rinsing of the
vagina. A
douche bag is a piece of equipment for douching: a bag for holding the water or fluid used in douching (the term
douche bag can also be used as an insult; see
below for slang uses). To avoid transferring intestinal bacteria into the vagina, the same bag must not be used for a vaginal douche and an
enema.
Douche bag, or simply
douche, is considered to be a
pejorative term in
Australia, the
Philippines,
Ireland, the
United States,
Canada and
New Zealand. The slang usage of the term dates back to the 1960s.
[6] The metaphor of identifying a person as a douche is intended to associate a variety of negative qualities, specifically arrogance and malice.
