Moll (slang)

Term for a woman with loose sexual morals

For the US term for a gangster's girlfriend, see gun moll.

Moll, mole, or molly in Australia and New Zealand, is a usually pejorative or self-deprecating term for a woman of loose sexual morals, or a prostitute.

## Etymology and spelling

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"Moll" derives from "Molly", used as a euphemism for "whore" or "prostitute". The Oxford English Dictionary lists the earliest usage in a 1604 quote by Thomas Middleton: "None of these common Molls neither, but discontented and unfortunate gentlewomen."[1] The existence of the popular derivative spelling, mole, likely reflects the word's history as a spoken, rather than written, insult. Popular usage of this spelling can be seen in the name of The Comedy Company character Kylie Mole. Another example can be seen in a poem by Kevin Munro: "'That Dee will have our jobs; she's a fair dinkum mole!'".[2] The author suggests that this spelling doesn't carry the underworld connotations of the much older moll variant.

## In popular culture

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Puberty Blues was a 1981 movie based on the autobiographical novel by Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey about their experiences of being 13-year-old girls on Sydney's southern beaches. In the novel, movie and television series, girls were referred to as molls, bush pigs, top chicks, glam mags, sceggs, or grommets.[3] The term was again popularised following the 2012 television series Puberty Blues, based on the same novel.

"Game on, molls!" became a popular catchcry in 2006, after housemate Anna Lind-Hansen used it on Australian reality television show Big Brother.[4][5] It spawned a range of novelty products such as T-shirts. The phrase has since been quoted in many Australian reality television shows.[6][7][8]

## See also

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* Moll Flanders
* Moll King (disambiguation)

## References

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1. ^ "moll, n." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 8 April 2013 <http://dictionary.oed.com/>.
2. ^ Munro, Kevin. "Netted Rainbows: A Collection of Poetry", Eloquent Books, 2009.
3. ^ Puberty Blues (1981) clip 2 on ASO - Australia's audio and visual heritage online
4. ^ Home - ZOO Weekly
5. ^ BB06 Anna Game on Moles - YouTube
6. ^ Alice in wonderland - TV & Radio - Entertainment - smh.com.au
7. ^ "News - Entertainment". 7 April 2024.
8. ^ ‘Molls’: Revolt against fave after secret deal

## External links

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* The dictionary definition of moll at Wiktionary