Say what?

"Gail, did you hear about the new name for a vagina?" An unlikely question from my mother. "Huh?" was the only response I could come up with. "I read it somewhere today, I think it was the New York Times, oh for God's sake did your father throw it away already? Why does he do that?" I was still back at "huh?"
Well I know it's here somewhere, I'll find it and mail it to you." I must say I was stunned by her interest in some new vocabulary word for a sexual body part and also shocked to learn there was a new word. This was clearly something I missed.

Was there a re-naming resolution proposed by the religious right ? Do we need "kinder gentler" words for certain parts of our anatomy? Was Clarence Thomas in on this? Was mom on drugs? My head was spinning. I checked the New York Sunday Times on-line and to my surprise there it was.... a new name for a vagina; pop culture nomenclature driven by and again, why would this surprise me...."Grey's Anatomy". The official introduction was Feb 12, 2006,and you know I think I saw that episode but didn't realize the impact it would have on my body. Or vocabulary.
It seems I have a vajayjay. Ok, then. It's catchy, in the same way "rayjay" is. Apparently Oprah is a fan of the word . Isn't she great about sharing? I'm much more selfish and probably would have just kept it to myself. But now that 46 million viewers heard her use it in a sentence it's officially part of the public domain. I am so out of the loop, as according to the Times , it's even been overheard in grocery store lines....I've got to get out more. The article quoted a known linguist as saying perhaps there was a need for a "pet name", a word women could use amongst themselves. I have to be honest, although I talk about sex with my women friends we rarely refer specifically to our vaginas and if we did, a pet name would not be handier and could be confusing. Do men know this replacement word? Is it something we should make clear to our husbands/lovers? "Honey, that's great but could you just move a little more to the left in my vajayjay?" That could put an end to the evening.

So mom thanks for letting me in on the news, as afterall, I was an English major and believe in correct word usage. Shonda Rhimes the creator of "Grey's Anatomy" said "it doesn't belong to me or anyone at the show. It belongs to all women..." I guess I should also thank Shonda for her generosity . But whereas I can say "vagina" I don't think I can say "vajayjay" with a straight face.