The term "peeking old cunt" has been around since the Middle Ages, but it's only recently gained popularity as a sex insult. The word is a good-natured insult used by men to make women blush. It's also used casually in Ireland and Britain as a light-hearted, playful insult between mates. My Tufts professor of English literature introduced me to the word synecdoche - a figure of speech that replaces a whole with an example of the same thing. I also learned metonymy, another form of simile..