… that I misspelled the verb “cuckquean” in my review of The Nanny Diaries. Naturally, I am CRUSHED.

Here I am, trying to popularize a really fantastic word that has—for unknown but clearly specious (sexist?) reasons—fallen into disuse, and I misspell it. How are you going to look it up in the OED? Jesus, I’m an idiot.

Anyway, if you’re curious—and especially if you don’t give a flying fuck—here’s what the OED has to say about “cuckquean”:

cuckquean, n.

Obs.

A female cuckold.
^{1562 J. HEYWOOD Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 62 Ye make hir a cookqueane. 1565 GOLDING Ovid’s Met. VI. (1593) 146 Queene Progne was a cutqueane made by meanes of her. 1614 Sco. Venus (1876) 39 That hast made her a quot-queane shamefully. 1615 HEYWOOD Foure Prentises Wks. 1874 II. 216 Hee’d make his wife a Cucke-queane. a1652 BROME City Wit IV. i, To bee made Cuckqueane by such a Cockscombe. 1922 JOYCE Ulysses 15 A wandering crone..their common cuckquean.}

Hence cuckquean v. trans., to make a cuckquean of.
^{1592 WARNER Alb. Eng. VIII. xli. (1612) 199 Came I from France..to be Cuckquean’d heere? a1652 BROME Mad Couple III. i, You can doe him no wrong..to cuckold him, for assure your selfe hee cuckqueans you.}

And, a reminder: the OED online is available to all Seattle residents (including, cough cough, our copy editors) via the Seattle Public Library. You must have a library card and know your PIN.