Where did the term 'Junk' come from?

I remember several years ago a man was posing nude for a lady painter,wife was present and if I remember rightly she commented "don,t be looking at my man,s junk"! Also about this time a man was going through a TSA inspection line

If you watch the first seasons of 'the Big Bang Theory' - now just completed its 10th season, you'll hear the nerds in the show using the term 'junk' very often. So, on a national hit TV series the term is already a decade old and figuring that screenwriters don't make up words like that, you can probably figure at least, the very least, another decade for the term to have started circulating amongst youngsters and teenagers. That puts it probably at late to mid 1990s vintage.

Now, why in the world people ever started, and adopted, usage of the term in that sense is beyond me. Probably some wise-ass teenagers with an inflated sense of shame and bravado came up this very depreciating and prudish term.

To tell the truth, I find 'junk' to be much more of an improper four-letter word than others like 'cock', 'dick', 'prick' etc ... it usually gives me an uneasy feeling, even in a comedy show ...

According to this source, the earliest usage was 1986, but using the word "junk" as slang for male genitals didn't really catch on until the internet came along.

http://www.columbiatribune.com/db73eb36-a952-54be-8831-714d53c315e7.html

http://www.columbiatribune.com/db73eb36-a952-54be-8831-714d53c315e7.html

As for “junk in the trunk,” Barrett could find no evidence to show one reference is connected to the other.

Good article. Tnx for the link.

As for 'junk in the trunk'- I wouldn't look any further than the love Americans have for a cute alliteration or rhyme. It is supposed to appear as being witty or hip, being 'in' on something, knowledgeable and funny. Rhymes are also the basis of many types of poetry, music lyrics - especially rap - that thrive on stream of consciousness associations that are reinforced by rhyming or alliterations or a fixed cadence - preferably all three if possible.

Somewhere I saw a woman refer to male genitalia as "turkey giblets".

That's kinda mean, really.