Foxy.

Referring to mean fox-like right? Simple enough - aren’t I the clever fox, I hear you say. But wait - ‘foxy’ is quite a jaunty word after all - it has taken on new informal meanings in modern language and popular culture that is worth a proper look.

Of course the obvious is true - "foxy" is derived from "fox," and means "having the qualities of" or "full of." And I think it’s quite an extraordinarily lovely thing to want to be, even just for a while, full of fox. But, never has a word had such juxtaposed implications, that one can hardly ever be both: when you are foxy you are either sneaky and sly or sexy and smart. You pick what kind of fox you want to be full of!

Foxes have long been associated with certain traits in various cultures: cleverness, cunning, stealth, savvy, beauty and elegance (particularly referring to their fur, but not including the garden-variety urban ones seen slyly slinking, with sunken shoulders and flighty eyes, past our neighbourhood bins…)

The informal use of ‘foxy’ (to refer to attractiveness or sexiness) became particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s, often associated especially with women. In fact, Jimi Hendrix's song "Foxy Lady" (1967) helped to further embed the term as a compliment for a desirable woman.

And talking of desireable - I found this yummy bit of trivia: some believe the meaning of foxy as sexy comes from the Middle Ages, when a writer complained of women’s clothes that were so tight they had to stuff fox tails down the back of their skirts to hide their behinds. Or, in even stranger speculations, some claim that women wore foxtails pinned to their dresses in medieval times to signal marriage or sexual availability, or - simply and far more pragmatically - to keep fleas away from their bodies.

But foxy wasn’t happy to just be shorthand for all things ‘wily’ or pertaining to ‘willies’. Foxy wanted to be full of fox and went along leaving its marks in many well-used colloquialisms.

Silver fox.
Fox in the hen house.
Fox-trot.
Fox’s wedding.
Outfoxed.