Why did condoms used to be called French letters ?

Answer 1

"French letter"

There are alternative etymologies for the condom:

1. Condom is sometimes considered a clinical expression, it is in fact intimately linked to the history of this fascinating item. In Britain a condom is also known as a French letter, much like the colloquial German word for a condom, "Pariser". English seventeenth century tourists, travelling through France on their pilgrimage to the center of ancient culture that was Rome, came across the town of Condom in southwestern France. It is said that there they made contact with ingenious French shepherds who were making prophylactics from sheep gut. A trade then ensued, whereby the English gentry would eagerly await their letters from France - French Letters - with a fresh supply of condoms. The French aristocracy then learned of these useful items from their English friends and called them "Capote Anglaise" - English Raincoats. Thus the condom came full circle, being made in France, being used in London, latterly in Paris, and finally being adopted by the Germans as a Pariser.

2. The English phrase "French letter" expresses the old image (or prejudice) that anything coming from France is decadent and has to do with sex. According to British military history, a Britain's Royal Guards Colonel named Condum, in seventeenth century (when Anglo-French enmity was at its mutual height) devised the French letter to protect his troops from the French by using it.
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couldnt remember it all so I cheated with copy & paste

Answer 2

French letters - The prejudice that anything French is wicked, sexual, and decadent has let Frenchmen in for more than their fair share of abuse. Many such expressions date back to 1730-1820, the height of Anglo-French enmity, but some are current and others go back even further."

A reliable source traces the word derivation to a Colonel Condum of Britain's Royal Guards. This authority notes that the colonel devised the 'French letter' early in the mid-17th century to protect his troops from the French.

The French, chauvinistic, too, called condoms "English letters."

But why "letter"?
The use of the term 'letter' seems quite straightforward: a condom is a bit like an envelope in that it envelopes ...

Answer 3

"French letter"
There are alternative etymologies for the condom:

1. Condom is sometimes considered a clinical expression, it is in fact intimately linked to the history of this fascinating item. In Britain a condom is also known as a French letter, much like the colloquial German word for a condom, "Pariser". English seventeenth century tourists, travelling through France on their pilgrimage to the center of ancient culture that was Rome, came across the town of Condom in southwestern France. It is said that there they made contact with ingenious French shepherds who were making prophylactics from sheep gut. A trade then ensued, whereby the English gentry would eagerly await their letters from France - French Letters - with a fresh supply of condoms. The French aristocracy then learned of these useful items from their English friends and called them "Capote Anglaise" - English Raincoats. Thus the condom came full circle, being made in France, being used in London, latterly in Paris, and finally being adopted by the Germans as a Pariser.

2. The English phrase "French letter" expresses the old image (or prejudice) that anything coming from France is decadent and has to do with sex. According to British military history, a Britain's Royal Guards Colonel named Condum, in seventeenth century (when Anglo-French enmity was at its mutual height) devised the French letter to protect his troops from the French by using it.

Answer 4

there is a town in France called Condom
Is there a connection? Do they make condoms there? Is that why they are called condoms? I am not sure, I think I have heard something along these lines...

Answer 5

James Boswell, Samuel Johnson's 18th century biographer, significant other and scribe, might want to consort with women of the evening and use his sheepgut secure practices he referred to as "armour". i concept that "french letter" got here out of the first international warfare. My dictionaries look to point that that's incredibly cutting-edge.

Answer 6

I can't remember but the French used to call them English overcoats (no joke)

Answer 7

Because, ze french, when zay write ze letters, they are very long and ow you say, passionate?

Answer 8

What do you mean - used to ?