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Terms for physical sexual activity

There are quite a number of common colloquial terms for physical sexual activities that most people understand in an unambiguous way.  A few examples are:

  • hand-job  Stimulating a person's genitals using one's hands, usually to orgasm.
  • blow-job  Stimulating a mans's genitals using one's mouth, usually to orgasm.  Doesn't generally involve blowing, but does generally involve taking the man's penis in one's mouth.
  • rimming  Stimulating a person's anus with one's tongue.

Similarly, there are common clinical terms that most people know:

  • intercourse  A common form of male-female sex where the penis is inserted in the vagina.
  • fellatio  Stimulating a man's genitalia with one's mouth, not necessarily to orgasm.
  • cunnilingus  Stimulating a woman's genitalia with one's mouth, not necessarily to orgasm. 
  • anilingus  Stimulating a person's anus with one's tongue.

New terms that might be useful

On the other hand, there are some common types of physical sexual activity that lack common terms to describe them.  As a result, the following terms may be useful:

  • lone-sex  Unambiguously refers to sexual activity that you engage in when no one else is present or involved.  Most people have lone-sex on a regular basis — it's a great way to explore your own sexual desires and responses (see the masturbation page).  On this site, as in the culture at large, we do usually refer to lone-sex as "masturbating," but it's also good to have a term which avoids the different meanings that "masturbation" has. 
  • self-stim  Stimulating yourself sexually in a physical manner, whether by hand or using a prop or instrument such as a vibrator.  This can occur not only when you are by yourself but also when you are with someone else.  Also, doing something to yourself usually feels quite different than when someone else does the same thing to you.
  • mouth-stim  Sexual stimulation using the mouth.  Using this term simplifies such requests as, "I'd love mouth-stim on my toes," or "My pussy could really use some mouth-stim right now," or "Please give my balls some mouth-stim," or "Would you mind if I gave your nipples mouth-stim?"
  • hand-stim / finger-stim / etc.  Sexual stimulation using the hands / fingers / etc.  Again, these terms make specific requests easier to articulate.  I'd like to mention in passing that people sometimes regard hand stimulation as a kind of second-rate form of sexual interaction, whereas in reality it can be among the most nuanced, intense and wonderful ways of pleasuring and being pleasured, especially if you're maintaining a strong emotional connection at the same time.  Our hands are amazing!
  • lick-job  Female counterpart of a blow-job: bringing a woman to orgasm by stimulating her pussy with one's mouth.  If "blow-job" or "BJ" is one of the most common sexual colloquialisms in the U.S., where on earth is an equally common female equivalent??? The absence of such a term is a sad commentary on our culture's sexual dysfunction.
  • to pleasure  This archaic verb isn't intended here as a euphemism, but rather as a broad term for intentionally giving sexual pleasure to another person in any way whatsoever.  In this usage, no particular activity is implied, but rather a conscious intention successfully carried out to arouse and give sexual pleasure to someone else.  Since this type of sexual activity is among the most lovely and rewarding, it definitely deserves a word its own.

Although the terms above make it easier to talk about physical sexual activities, most people are already making the distinctions that they express.  The same is not necessarily true, however, of the terms for mental sexual activities suggested on the following page. 


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