fronts - wish my fronts weren't so full

[perpend]

Gee, I sure wish my fronts weren't so full--they sure ruin the line of your beads.

This is from Thoroughly Modern Millie, the DVD. It's set in the 1920s.

The line is on the screen after Millie is looking at bead, and down at her chest, and then decides to go into a lingerie shop and then she comes out looking flatter down there, and her beads looks better.

Am I missing something or would "my fronts" of back then be "the twins" of today? Both cases a type of euphemism?

 

[Parla]

"Twins"? That's a new one to me. I think they'd be the boobs of today.

 

[DonnyB]

Am I missing something or would "my fronts" of back then be "the twins" of today? Both cases a type of euphemism?

That would be my guess, yes.

In the light of Parla's comment I was about to suggest that perhaps "the twins" was a typically coy BE euphemism, but perhaps it's just regional as far as AE is concerned?

 

[JustKate]

That would be my guess, yes.

In the light of Parla's comment I was about to suggest that perhaps "the twins" was a typically coy BE euphemism, but perhaps it's just regional as far as AE is concerned?

I've never heard it. I've heard "the girls," though.

 

[Loob]

I haven't heard "the twins" either.

PS. Or "the fronts".

 

[RM1(SS)]

I've definitely heard "the girls," and I definitely haven't heard "the fronts." I'm not sure about "the twins."

The four-letter term everyone used when I was young seems to have gone completely out of favour - I haven't heard it in years. Or maybe I just associate with a higher grade of riff-raff now....

 

[perpend]

Yes, RM1, #6. I do think that one was a key ingredient in T&A. (See "A Chorus Line".)

Thanks for input. Now you have me wondering if "my fronts" in the film was said to avoid the FCC, if that existed back then. There is some quite cheeky language in the film which in hindsight makes me think they had to get creative, as is common in the industry. We've come a long way, though, baby.

"the twins" is very common where I'm from, but there might be a caveat---maybe it needs to be a "bought pair". I'm not sure.

 

[Loob]

It took me a good 5 minutes to work out what you meant by "T&A", perp.

(For anyone else still mystified, it's "tits and ass".)

 

[perpend]

Oh my gosh---how could you write that, darling Loob?

 

[fiercediva]

Despite the campy white slavery storyline, Thoroughly Modern Millie was supposed to be a family-friendly, roadshow movie - the kind that would play two weeks at Radio City Music Hall back in the day. Thus, "fronts" may have been employed to make the musical suitable for the MPAA G rating it eventually received. One could certainly use more earthy words for breasts in 1967, the year the film was released alongside edgier fare like The Graduate, Bonnie & Clyde, Valley of the Dolls and The President's Analyst.

 

[perpend]

One could certainly use more earthy words for breasts in 1967, the year the film was released alongside edgier fare like The Graduate, Bonnie & Clyde, Valley of the Dolls and The President's Analyst.

They were trying to invoke/portray the 1920s, though.

"breasts" make me a little woozy, what are these earthier words, fierce?

 

[JustKate]

Thanks for input. Now you have me wondering if "my fronts" in the film was said to avoid the FCC, if that existed back then. There is some quite cheeky language in the film which in hindsight makes me think they had to get creative, as is common in the industry. We've come a long way, though, baby.

It's been a very long time since I've seen Thoroughly Modern Millie, but my recollection is that there was some attempt to replicate the slang of the 1920s. Even in 1967, which is when the movie came out (according to Wiki), there were less...oblique euphemisms for breasts. I mean, why not just use bosom, if a euphemism was needed? So perhaps fronts was actually used in the 1920s?