What is the origin of "peepinig Tom"?

Answer 1

Meaning:

A voyeur. A man who furtively observes naked or sexually active people for his own gratification.

Origin:

The name comes from the legend of Lady Godiva's naked ride through the streets of Coventry, in order to persuade her husband to alleviate the harsh taxes on the town's poor. The story goes that the townsfolk agreed not to observe Godiva as she passed by, but that Peeping Tom broke that trust and spied on her.

The ride is still commemorated (clothed) in the city each year. As the picture shows, there's no longer any taboo about watching it.

Gleaning the elements of fact from this story isn't straightforward. Lady Godiva was an actual historical figure and is mentioned in various ancient records, including the Domesday survey of 1085. There's some justification to regard her as a patron of the town, although some accounts dispute this. She married Leofric in 1040 and in 1043 she persuaded him to build a Benedictine monastery at Coventry.

This is a translation from a Latin text, written a century or so after the supposed event - the Flores Historiarum, by Roger of Wendover, who died in 1236.

"Ascend," he said, "thy horse naked and pass thus through the city from one end to the other in sight of the people and on thy return thou shalt obtain thy request." Upon which she returned: "And should I be willing to do this, wilt thou give me leave?" "I will," he responded. Then the Countess Godiva, beloved of God, ascended her horse, naked, loosing her long hair which clothed her entire body except her snow white legs, and having performed the journey, seen by none, returned with joy to her husband who, regarding it as a miracle, thereupon granted Coventry a Charter, confirming it with his seal.

Whatever the truth of the ride through the town, there are no accounts of this story which mentioned a 'Peeping Tom' character until the 18th century and that has to been seen as a later invention. Why that embellishment was given to the story isn't clear.

The name 'Peeping Tom' is first recorded in the Coventry city accounts in 1773, recording a new wig and paint for the effigy of Tom the Tailor (which clearly must have existed for some time prior to that).

The first record that alludes to his dubious habits is in Grose's 'Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1796:

"Peeping Tom, a nick name for a curious prying fellow."

Answer 2

WORD HISTORY In an age when we can speak of peeping Tom cameras or electronic peeping Toms we have indeed come far from the time of the legendary peeping Tom. Godgifu (fl. 1040–1080), Lady Godiva to us, pledged her legendary ride as a means of persuading her husband, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, to lower taxes. In the original version of the story she was observed by all the townspeople as she disrobed, but in a much later version of the story a tailor or butcher named Tom was the only person to observe her as she rode by, everyone else having shuttered their windows as they had been asked. Peeping Tom, first recorded around 1796, has become a term for a voyeur, not at all a pleasant fate for this legendary fellow. As W.H. Auden has said, “Peeping Toms/are never praised, like novelists or bird watchers,/for their keenness of observation.”

Answer 3

It is from an updated of version of the legend of Lady Godiva.

The character of Peeping Tom is introduced to the story by Paul de Rapin. Peeping Tom was a boy in Conventry who peeked at Lady Godiva through the shutters as she rode past and was struck blind.

Answer 4

When Lady Godiva was forced to ride through the city of Coventry (England) on a horse - naked with only her hair to cover her body - no one would look at her out of respect and appreciation for her being a really good lady, however there was one chap, named Tom, who took a peek and was thoroughly ostracized for doing so.

Hence we have: Peeping Tom

Answer 5

Well.. I do have my doubts but... Supposedly, this phrase, or whatever came about due to a voyeur. The story of Peeping Tom springs from Lady Godiva's infamous ride through the streets of Coventry in England. Unclothed with only her long hair to cover her, she made the ride as a protest to the oppressive taxation of the townspeople by her husband, Leofric III, lord of Coventry.

Before her ride, Lady Godiva asked the townspeople to stay inside with their shutters and doors closed so they wouldn't see her in the nude. According to legend, one man, a tailor named Tom, bore a hole in his shutters to catch a glimpse of Godiva as she passed. The tailor, who became known as Peeping Tom, was struck blind (or some say dead) the moment he saw her.