Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2016 November 3

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November 3

Where do people use seemingly obscure sex terms?

Some sex terms seem so obscure that I only find them being described in textbooks. They are almost never used. Can anybody provide textual contexts for coitus interruptus and immissio penis that are not mentioned for the sake of mentioning? Since cunnilingus (neo-Latin) and fellatio (Latin derivative) are action-specific terms for the type of oral sex, are there similar action-specific terms for vaginal sex and anal sex? The terms, vaginal and anal and sex, are Latin, but vaginal sex is not action-specific, whereas immissio penis is. Is there an action-specific Latin term for anal sex? 66.213.29.17 (talk) 17:00, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

"Textual contexts for coitus interruptus": thank goodness for the Oxford English Dictionary! It lists half a dozen quotations from 1900 to 1962; I'm not clear why it stops at that date. ("Annus mirabilis" was, lest we forget, the next year.) There are plenty of sexologists: Ellis, Freud, Stopes, and a mention in the Lancet. But others? Harold Nicolson- "The P.M...then went on to speak about conscription in Northern Ireland and left the house with a sense of coitus interruptus." A C. Day Lewis poem. And a 1961 novel: "Can you imagine anything more stupid than a corrida without killing?.. That's coitus interruptus if you like."

Interruptus is sense b). Sense a) has no adjective and is simply "coition". Sense c) another Latinate phrase: "We practiced all sorts of fancy coitus, coitus reservatus, etc." (1903). Fancy that.

The OED knows nothing of immissio penis. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 17:42, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

And which Freud would that be? The one that liked dogs? Martinevans123 (talk) 17:56, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

It wasn't just the Inclement Freud who loved dogs. In his final months Sigmund translated a canine biography. Perhaps it runs in the family? --Hillbillyholiday ^talk 19:20, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

*tears* "Topsy, Chow-Chow au Poile d’Or" sounds like a very obscure sex term. Martinevans123 (talk) 20:09, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

• Why it stops at that date would be because that was when the relevant section of the Second Supplement was written, and the editors haven't made the entry a priority for updating. See Oxford English Dictionary#Second supplement and the sections following. --76.71.5.45 (talk) 21:37, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

I suggest searching in Google Books (http://books.google.com) for uses of the phrases. Remember to enclose them in double-quotes to request a phrase search. --76.71.5.45 (talk) 21:37, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

I've found the Google Books Ngram viewer usefull https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=coitus+interruptus&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Ccoitus%20interruptus%3B%2Cc0 --TrogWoolley (talk) 16:31, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

• What is wrong with you youngsters? I knew what coitus interruptus was long before I practiced it as a rather successful means of avoiding pregnancy. μηδείς (talk) 03:21, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

That all sounds a bit fishy to me. But do pass on our best wishes to all your kids. Martinevans123 (talk) 09:34, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

I probably used the method at least 500 times without conception, although at my current age I wish I had grandkids. μηδείς (talk) 00:30, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

Methinks that this all relates to the (much-larger, and at least twelve-centuries-old) discussion concerning Latin-based words in English, modern Greek, and the various Romance languages. Ever since the rise of the Latin-based vernaculars in Dark-Age Europe, scholars have stood rather irresolute over what place—if any—the classical language ought still to have.

Some believe that (apart from certain, international prose such as Linnaeus classifications) keeping everything vernacular would greatly facilitate communication.

Vernacular Noun	Vernacular Adjective
bird	birdlike
dog	doggish

Others, however, hold that such usage betrays a lack of sophistication, and that while using Latin for nouns has now become obsolete, one must continue to use it for adjectives as a means of stimulating intellect.

Vernacular Noun	Latin Adjective
bird	avian
dog	canine

Everyone agrees, though, that the vernacular form has become mandatory in case of nouns, except—curiously enough—when it comes to sexual terminology. Following the pattern immediately above, one would think that English speakers would say:

Vernacular Noun	Latin Adjective
intromittent organ	penile
birth canal	vaginal

But when it comes to said terms, though, practically everybody still speaks as if he were living in 5th century!

Latin Noun	Latin Adjective
penis	penile
vagina	vaginal

Apropos the OP's premise, it may very well seem that the new generation is now starting to generalize the whole Latin/vernacular pattern to include sexual terminology as well, Victorian-era mores notwithstanding.

Pine (talk) 05:36, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

Does anyone use the term "intromittent organ" to describe the male appendage? 80.44.161.39 (talk) 13:47, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

Yes, in our parish, when the priest's sermon is too long, Mrs. McBride puts an end to it with the intromittent organ. μηδείς (talk) 18:53, 6 November 2016 (UTC)