The word "nymphet" often raises the question of when it is appropriate to use it. And the thing is that the classical dictionaries of the Russian language do not provide a description of its meaning. Therefore, often different people give the word "nymphet" a completely different meaning, which can contribute, at best, to misunderstandings between the interlocutors.
The essence of the problem
For some, the word "nymphet" sounds like a playful compliment, and for some it sounds like an insult. Someone calls any sexually attractive girl a nymphet, and someone calls a girl who has entered the stage of puberty, but is not yet fully formed in this regard. Others prefer to call this the young (often underage) girls-"seductresses".
In order to understand the meaning of this word, it is necessary to turn to the primary source - the novel by the famous writer Vladimir Nabokov "Lolita", the necessity or unnecessary prohibition of which is still under discussion.
V. Nabokov's novel "Lolita" was written in 1955 in English and published by the Paris publishing house "Olympia Press".
Nymphet Lolita
It is thanks to this work of Vladimir Nabokov that the word "nymphet" appeared in the Russian language. The writer called the heroine of his story - a young twelve-year-old girl Lolita - a nymphet. On the one hand, outwardly, the image of the heroine is somewhat blurred, ghostly (gray eyes, light brown hair, “honey” shoulders), however, on the other hand, this girl showed a special essence that attracted adult men - “the essence is not human, but nymph (i.e. ie demonic) "(V. Nabokov).
This is how the word "nymphet" appeared, which Nabokov began to use in relation to very young girls, whose age range is from 9 to 14 years old, but whose sexual development has reached the stage when the girl becomes as attractive as possible for adult men, and this is perceived by herself for granted.
The novel "Lolita" was banned from publication in the USA for a long time (until 1958). And now this work is prohibited in many countries.
It is worth noting that the word "nymphet" has become synonymous with the name "Lolita", which, in turn, has become a household name. Many criminals who have committed actions similar to those of the hero of the novel often call their victims "nymphets" or "lolitas", implying a return desire on the part of the girl and, thereby, trying to shift the responsibility for what was done to her.
This is also reflected in the fact that some call Nabokov's work “the confession of a pedophile,” while others counterbalance the fact that the heroine of “demonic nature” is by no means an innocent victim. Now in literature and everyday speech, the word "nymphet" is often used in relation to attractive teenage girls.
