Ribaulderie

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Crude, bawdy jokes, language or conduct that is indecent and makes people laugh at its vulgarity
2. Lewd and irreverent speech or actions, typically sexual in nature and considered offensive by polite company
3. Vulgar, mocking humor or behavior that openly flouts decency, often found in old bawdy writing and songs

Etymology: Ribaldry is the lineage here, and the story runs through Old French. "Ribaulderie" is a rare Middle English noun meaning ribald behaviour or coarse talk, formed from the adjective "ribald" with the Old French-derived suffix "-erie," which turns an adjective or agent noun into a word for conduct or a collective quality. The same suffix gives English "knavery" and "roguery." The root "ribaud" in Old French meant a lewd or dissolute fellow, and it probably came from "riber," to revel or live loosely, though the ultimate origin of that verb is uncertain. Over the centuries the sense softened in English: "ribald" shifted from a description of a person to a description of jokes and language that are bawdy or irreverent, while the older noun form dropped out of general use. Because "ribaulderie" is so rarely attested, its exact first recorded date is hard to pin down, but it belongs to the Middle English period when French-derived vocabulary was pouring into English vernacular writing.

Synonyms: ribaldry, bawdiness, lewdness, coarseness, vulgarity

Antonyms: decency, propriety, decorum, modesty