What Does 'Onahole' Mean Anyway?

In the west most people would call any male maturbatory aid a Fleshlight, even ones that aren't made by Fleshlight. Over in Japan the word onahole is standard, and if you're on this site chances are you've heard that term before. But have you ever wondered where that word comes from? You may be surprised.

The '-hole' part is straightforward. After all, without a hole it'd be useless. But 'ona'-? The simple and most obvious answer is that 'onani' is a Japanese word for self-loving (オナニー), but if you want to go deeper we have to consult The Holy Bible.

The Old Testament mentions a guy named Onan, son of Judah. Onan's brother Er was slain by God for simply being wicked (Genesis 38:7). Judah ordered the childless Onan to enter a levirate marriage, a tradition at the time that meant he had to marry his dead brother's widow Tamar and have children with her (38:8). But if Onan had a child with Tamar it would legally be Er's child, meaning Onan would get less inheritance from his father when he kicked the bucket. So what did Onan do instead?

"And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also." (Genesis 38:8-9)

It's not explicitly mentioned in The Good Book, but the spilling of the seed in this passage is often interpreted to mean Onan brought himself to completion with his hand instead of nutting in his brother's wife. So Onan's legacy was that he busted a nut and God killed him, and that event would be talked about for thousands of years to come (haha). Not just that but his name became synonymous with the act of jerking off, so much that several languages use it as a more formal term for the act. In English, 'onanism'. French has 'onanisme'. And in Japan, 'onani'. So yes, an onahole is literally just a hole for onanism. Man, etymology can be fun