April 17, 1997

keister

I must be getting old, because nobody seems to understand what the word "keyster" means anymore. Since I can't find it in the dictionary, I don't even know how to spell it, so I can't help. Is it "keyster" or "keister" or "keester" or "kiester"? All I know is that it's a slang word for buttocks, and it's only used by oldsters. Can you fill me in on at least the spelling, and possibly the history of this colorful term?

You are not alone in a search for the spelling of the word keister: Over the years, it's been recorded as keister, kiester, keyster, and keester--every form you suggest has been used in print. However, the most common spelling, and the one given as a preferred form by those dictionaries that include it, is keister.

Though there is some disagreement over the etymology, the most likely explanation is that it is a borrowing of German Kiste 'a box; case; chest', which also means 'the rump; buttocks' in German slang. Interestingly, the earliest use of the word in English slang is 'a traveling bag; suitcase', corresponding to the standard German sense. The 'suitcase' sense is first found in the 1880s, and is well attested by the 1910s or '20s. Derived senses, used mainly in criminal circles, include 'a safe' and 'a jail; lockup'.

The usual current sense 'the buttocks' and occasionally 'the rectum or anus' is first found around 1930. While the word is somewhat old-fashioned, it is still in use. Like many words referring to the buttocks (especially ass), it has developed various subsenses, including 'copulation' (e.g. "I'd like to get some keister") and 'one's body; self' (e.g. "Get your keister out of here"). But the most interesting development, to my mind, is a rather gruesome verb use among prisoners: 'to hide (contraband) in the rectum', as in "I keistered that knife and brought it in here." This verb is first recorded in the 1980s, though there are examples of expressions like keister plant 'an act of concealing narcotics in the rectum' in prison memoirs from the 1940s. Here's hoping you never encounter this one personally.