[font=Times New Roman] Bundling (Noun) [/font]
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Pronunciation:  [‘bênd-ling]

Definition: Sleeping with someone of the opposite sex fully clothed, separated by a blanket, or sewn up in a bundling bag.

Usage:  References to bundling go as far back as the book of Ruth in the Old Testament. It was probably wide-spread throughout Europe and came thence to the US, where it was practiced particularly in New England and may still be practiced among the Amish and Mennonites. Sewing the bundlee into a bag, as seen in the film, ‘The Patriot,’ was not widespread. Rather, the couple was separated by a blanket or slept bundled in their clothes. Under the Amish and Mennonites, it became a form of courtship, a way for a future married couple to spend time alone without risk of offspring.

Suggested usage:  The original motive was probably economic: a shortage of bed space for visitors who could not return home for the night. In the villages of Eastern Europe today it is not uncommon for the husband to sleep next to a male visitor while the wife sleeps next to a female visitor, often fully clothed, in case of a poverty of beds. Bundling may have originated as a variant for providing bedspace with an unwed daughter.

Etymology: Today’s word is the noun from the verb "bundle," a relative of "bind," but probably borrowed directly from Middle Dutch bondel "sheaf of papers, bundle." Another relative is "band" but "bandanna" comes from Hindi bandhnu "tie-dyeing" from bandhna "to tie" (Sanskrit bandhati "he ties"). Another distant relative is "kummerbund" from Hindi kamarband, itself borrowed from Persian kamar "waist" + band "band."

—Dr. Language, yourDictionary.com

Some beds were made for a bundling board that ran down between the couple.  One story goes that because they didn’t have a bundling board, the mother told her daughter to tie her legs in a pillow case and keep them there.  In morning, she asked her daughter if she kept both legs in the pillowcase.  The daughter replied that she only took one leg out.

[quote author=Stargzer link=board=todays;num=1044732727;start=0#1 date=02/08/03 at 19:17:17]The daughter replied that she only took one leg out.

Your put your left leg in, you put your left leg out . . .

 

 

Thanks for this word. I did not realise there was an English term for this. I first came across the concept while attempting to learn Welsh. "caru yn y gweli" - courting in bed, where the engaged couple would share a bed and be separated by a bolster.

You’re starting to get offensive, buzz.

Could you please bugger off to some other forum? I’m sure there are some that would appreciate your ramblings.

Personally, I find your posts intrusive and rather abnoxious. In the nicest possible way, of course. I suppose the Mayans had a word for "cease and desist" but I don’t know it. Perhaps you do.

Let’s be very clear about this, Buzz. Your loopy posts are driving us crazy. You’re turning a pleasant, intelligent forum into a total nosebleed.

As I see it, there are three ways to deal with this:

1) please simply stop
2) please stop or I’ll kill your dog
3) bugger off, you’re not wanted here, and if you come back we’ll track you down and make your life and that of your immediate family miserable to the point of suicide

Your choice, Buzz.   :D

- PW
Seattle, Wa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, buzz!

I am sure you are a nice guy (in someone’s fantasy world)!

But, please, your posts are like the eyesore of litter on an almost perfectly pristine freeway median.

Thank you!

Sitran