Peeping Tom
a person who looks into bedroom windows
TRANSLATION
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STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"Are we turning into PEEPING TOMS? But what does the Big Brother series say about modern society? Television appears obsessed with fly-on-the-wall documentaries and on the internet we have had live births, surgical operations and weddings."
(BBC News - 23rd July 2000)
(BBC News - 23rd July 2000)
Did you
know?
Did you know?
Today is April 1st!
So all three definitions of today's word are correct -- but few people know them all!
The most commonly known meaning is:
A person who gets pleasure from secretly watching others; a voyeur.
Origin:
After the legendary Peeping Tom of Coventry, England, who was the only person to see the naked Lady Godiva.
According to legend Godgifu (1040-1080) otherwise known as Lady Godiva, rode naked through the town as a means of persuading her husband, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, to lower taxes.
A tailor named Tom was the only person to observe her as she rode by, everyone else having decently shuttered their windows as they had been asked.
The term Peeping Tom has therefore become another word for voyeur.
Today is April 1st!
So all three definitions of today's word are correct -- but few people know them all!
The most commonly known meaning is:
A person who gets pleasure from secretly watching others; a voyeur.
Origin:
After the legendary Peeping Tom of Coventry, England, who was the only person to see the naked Lady Godiva.
According to legend Godgifu (1040-1080) otherwise known as Lady Godiva, rode naked through the town as a means of persuading her husband, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, to lower taxes.
A tailor named Tom was the only person to observe her as she rode by, everyone else having decently shuttered their windows as they had been asked.
The term Peeping Tom has therefore become another word for voyeur.
