Ever hear term 'round heels? Mom, b 1913, said it was used for girls who were 'easy'

[bobbieinok]

'Easy' also an old term, I think

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I heard it years ago, but not as long ago as 1913.

[Cartoonist]

2. Raymond Chandler used it

In the context of the story, I assumed it meant she didn't stand on her feet all day.

[Me.]

3. Or Keeping One's Skirts Clean?

[Maeve]

4. Yeah, it implies she's a push-over

Falling backwards implying having sex, as in the Nurse's joke in Romeo & Juliet

For then she could stand alone; nay, by the rood,
She could have run and waddled all about;
For even the day before, she broke her brow:
And then my husband--God be with his soul!
A' was a merry man--took up the child:
'Yea,' quoth he, 'dost thou fall upon thy face?
Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit;
Wilt thou not, Jule?' and, by my holidame,
The pretty wretch left crying and said 'Ay.'

Act I, scene III

We had a teacher who explained why that was one of the 'dirty bits'

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Yes. It came from the idea that her shoe heels were worn round from falling on her back so often...

And easily.

Remember when women were not supposed to enjoy sex, but to endure it for the sake of their husbands and to produce children?

[braddy]

7. I'm pretty old but no, I don't remember when old men told me that they had wanted frigid wives

and girlfriends, they just didn't want to make the mistake of trying to build a life and raise a family with a round heel girl.

[Arkansas Granny]

6. Yes. My mother used the term for girls who were "no better than they had to be".

[Collimator]

11. Read the phrase in romance novels

and British detective series.

Also remember the expression, "no better than she should be." That one means that a given person behaves correctly in circumstances that can be observed by the community. But when the public eye is not present, the person makes no attempt at behaving honorably or virtuously.

Other expressions I have enjoyed, "Mutton dressed as lamb" or conversely, "Lamb dressed as mutton."

[Shrike47]

8. I've read it but then, I've read a lot of books. Means slutty.

[FakeNoose]

9. I think it went out of style after World War II

I did read "round heels" in books but I never heard anyone actually use that term in a conversation.

[Ron Obvious]

10. Yes, "a round-heeled woman".

Someone wrote an autobiography with that title relatively recently (~2005 or so, I think) about sexual adventures in mid-life.