Speaking Clitorally

Fact: In the entire animal kingdom, the clitoris is the only organ whose sole function is pleasure.

Fact: It has 8,000 nerve endings, twice that of the penis.

Fact: Women are capable of multiple orgasms. Men, for the most part, aren't.

The first use of the word "clitoris," in English, was 1615. At a time when the male organ was called a yard, physicians noted that "the action of the clitoris is like that of the yard, which is erection." Later physicians noted that the clit was like the glans of the penis, "the seat of the greatest pleasure in copulation in women."

According to Harvard professor Steven Pinker, there are 1,200 terms for the vagina in English. For those of you keeping score, there are only 1,000 terms for the male organs.

A study in Great Britain found that the 10 most frequently used terms for women's genitalia are: