John Cowan wrote:
>> I don't get the "wood wose" reference. Could you explain it? (I know
what a
>> twink is.)
>
>"Calling someone a twink is just the gay way of being a male
>chauvinist pig."
> --Armistead Maupin (from memory)
>
>Anyhow, it seems clear that this is a mixture of "woodwose" (also spelled
>"woodhouse" and "wodehouse", as in P. G. Wodehouse), a wild man of the
>woods; and Milton's characterization of Shakespeare's poetry as
>his "native wood-notes wild" (in "L'Allegro").
>
>Presumably the use of "woodwose" refers to naivete rather than cuteness.
Apparently my friend had his Milton mixed up, as did I. (Adjusts memory.)
Woodwose definitely included "cute", and was a little kinder than twink.