As you may or may not know, I am a linguistics major. What am I doing writing about sex? Well … I’m not sure. But there is something to be said about the culture of sexual language in America. To illustrate, I challenge you to complete this exercise:
Take 15 minutes and write down all the slang words you can think of for vagina, penis, vaginal intercourse, oral sex (both fellatio and cunnilingus), anal sex and masturbation. You can do this exercise alone or with a group of friends. But no outside resources! Urban Dictionary is a great site, but I’m pretty sure using it for this assignment would violate the incorruptible Honor Code.
My guess… you can come up with an average of 20 euphemisms for each word. For an added bonus, examine which words you’ve come up with the most slang terms for. Chances are, everyone comes up with the most for penis. Now what’s that say about our culture? I’m not sure… ask a Gender Studies/Sociology major. I just know about the words.
Here are a few articles on the subject:
