Wolf bait

Posted by Pamela on September 11, 2008 at 04:46

In Reply to: Wolf bait posted by ESC on September 10, 2008 at 21:59:

: : : Where does the phrase "wolf bait" come from? I know it means to defecate, but, I'm wondering if people actually ever used it for trying to catch a wolf, or what it might mean.

: : I have always believed that 'wolf bait' was an epithet used for girls who dress or act in such a manner as to attract wolves--that is, predators of the type that whistles at girls, or mashers.
: : SS

: Me too.

Wolf Bait: A sexually attractive female. {HAT: 1940s. Source: Wolf. WNNCD: O.E.). A pretty young woman was called wolf bait during WWII because she attracted wolf calls (q.v.) and wolf whistles of male wolves (q.v.). The term was complimentsary in those days, , but nowadays it implies that the bait is deliberately leading the wolf on. Compair San Quentin Quail. From: Speaking of animals: a dictonary of animal metaphors. Robert A. Palmatier, Greenwood 1995 (found this extract via google). Urban Dictionary does list the other meaning: 1. wolf bait (18 up, 7 down). Taking a crap; usually affiliated with a smell so bad that it scares people away from the bathroom: "Dude, why did you call me into the bathroom? There are girls outside wanting to hang out with us and you're dropping wolf bait!" [Rather odd example, I thought]. 2. wolf bait (11 up, 13 down): a dump. "I dropped wolf bait at Ron's".

I was interested to know if anyone actually uses the term "wolf bait" to mean defecate, so I searched on "wolf bait" and "stank" (thinking these might be used together) and, yes, there are some people using the term in that way. Pamela