Biblical Limericks: Spunk Isn’t Much Better

It is a baseless criticism
to claim the sin of Onanism
is the spilling of seed;
Onan’s problem was greed,
not just the vain discharge of jism.

Genesis 38: 8 – 10

Yeah, well… Limericks are supposed to be transgressive.

The Historical Dictionary of American Slang dates the word jism to 1842 and defines it as "spirit; energy; spunk." Jism also means "semen" or "sperm," and that meaning predominates today, causing jism to be considered a taboo word. Deepening the nexus among these words is the fact that spunk is also a slang term for "semen," and that spunk, like jism, also means "spirit, energy, or courage" (for example: "she showed a lot of spunk.") In the 19th and early 20th centuries, however, jism could still be used in polite contexts.