trimone

Neapolitan

Alternative forms

• trmon, tremon, trmoun, trmaun (pronunciation spellings, all proscribed)
• tremone (common Italianization)

Etymology

Uncertain. Many hypotheses have been formulated:

1. From the sense “hoe handle”. The movement required to work with such would have been compared with masturbation, but no further etymology is given.
2. From tremà (“to shake”, from Latin tremō, *tremāre) +‎ -one (agent suffix), thus literally “one who shakes”, in the sense of “wanker”.
3. From French trumeau (“trumeau”), which in Italy became the name of a piece of furniture (see more at Italian trumeau). The weight of the piece of furniture would have been compared with the stubbornness of a person.
4. From the sense “sorbet-making machine”, in which crushed ice went up and down, which would then be compared with masturbation. However, no further etymology is given for this hypothesis.
5. From Italian trombone (“trombone (musical instrument)”). The way the instrument's slide is brought back and forth to play it would have been compared with masturbation.

A folk etymology derives the term from French autrement (“differently, in some other way”), presumably having been pronounced by composer Niccolò Piccinni when answering the question “How will we manage without women?” by his companions after he had decided not to bring courtesans in his trip to his hometown Bari. Non-French-speaking locals would have then reintepreted his words as “[By means of] masturbation”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /triˈmo.nə/
  • (Bari) IPA^(key): [trɪˈmoː.nə̆]
  • (Molfetta) IPA^(key): [trəˈmoː.nə̆]
  • (Bitonto, Gargano) IPA^(key): [trɪˈmoʊ̯.nə̆]
  • (Andria, Matera) IPA^(key): [trɪˈmɑʊ̯.nə̆]

Noun

trimone m (plural trimune, feminine singular trimona, feminine plural trimone) (Apulia, chiefly Bari)

1. wank (act of masturbation)
2. idiot
3. (dated) See more in the Etymology section
   1. hoe handle
   2. a sorbet-making machine

References

• “Trimone: cosa vuol dire in pugliese?”, in patrimonilinguistici.it‎^[1] (in Italian), 2019, archived from the original on 5 October 2022