Bum: Middle English term for buttocks; from the Dutch bom.
Corybungus: Polari for butt.
Daily mail: rhymes with tail.
Heinie: 20th-century American term for hind end.
Glutes: jock abbreviation for gluteus, from the Greek gloutos for buttock.
Jacksy: a contemporary British slang term for anus.
Mottob: an example of slang derived from backward spelling.
Tokus (also tochas, tockus): from Yiddish for buttocks.
Yeastful: an oblique reference to buns.
To expose your buttocks: do a moon job; flash your butt/bum; hang a moon; moon; red eye.
Caress
John Barrington, U.K., c. 1940’s (Thomas Waugh Collection)
see also Fondle, Kiss
bear-hug, belly-crunch, bill, cajole, canoodle, clasp, cling, clutch, cock pluck, coo, court, court and spark, cradle, cuddle, dally, dinkydiddle, draw close, embrace, get physical, goose, grope, guzzle, hold, huddle, hug, lovey-dovey, lumber, make love, make love to, peck and neck, rock,
slake, slap and tickle, soothe, spoon, squeeze, stroke, take into your arms, tickle, touch
Spoon: dates back to the 19th century; suggested both foreplay and affectionate touching. In modern-day usage, refers to two people embracing while facing the same direction, as in bed.
Casual Sex Partner/One-Night Stand
Alley affair, alley queen, fling, fuck buddy, oncer, onetimer
Cheat on (to)
see also Promiscuous, Monogamy
burn, cat around, chippy on, chibby chase, cruise, dilly-dally, dog on, double-cross, engage in an extra-marital affair, engage in extracurricular activities, fan your ass, fan your pussy, fish, flag, flirt, fool around, give up rhythm, go on a fishing expedition, hit and run, horse around, jack around, jazz around, monkey about, perv about, philander, play around, play checkers, play games with, play the field, player (to be a), put horns on, put it about, shoot the thrill, step out on, tease, tomcat, trick out, two-time, vampire
Philander: from the Greek philandros, meaning loving men.
Vampire: a gay man who steals others’ partners.
Chest (Male)
Kris Studio, c. 1960. (Thomas Waugh Collection)
see also Muscular, Breasts, Nipples
A muscular male chest is a new Western aesthetic preoccupation. Many new terms will likely emerge as gay men renew their memberships at the Cult of Fitness.
Bitch-tits, boy-breast, boy-boobs, breast, brisket, disco tits, epilation mountains, gym tits, pecky, pecoramas, pecs, pecs for days, pectorals, ribs, thorax, tit freak/queen, tits, tittier, torso, upper trunk
Bitch tits: gynecomastia caused by steroid use.
Pecky: refers to a guy with big pecs.
Tit freak/queen: a gay man with a fetish for the male chest.
Clitoris
see also Genitalia, Labia, Vagina
The precise etymological origin of this term is unclear. Greek words for hill, famous, and hidden have been suggested.
beetle’s bonnet, bell, boy in the boat, budgie’s tongue, button, clit, clitty, clown’s hat, dat, dot, fun button, girl cock/dick, goal-keeper, jewel terrace, jointess, joy buzzer, laborator natural, little guy, little man, little man in the boat, little ploughman, little shame tongue, love bud, love button, love dart, membrum muliebre, nuts, pearl, praline, prawn of pleasure, sensitive spot, spare tongue, slit, slit bit, sugared diamond, taste bud
Boy in the boat: a British term from the 1800s, the boat being the vulva.
Girl cock/dick: a term used in lesbian porn.
Jewel terrace: a poetical term from the Chinese.
Closet Case
The closet is the central euphemistic term to articulate our homophobic culture’s urge to police and hide queer culture. (See Eve Sedgewick, The Epistemology of the Closet).
Abigail, angel with a dirty face, beard, BMQ, bi-curious, bunker shy, canned fruit, closet case/CC, closet queen, closet queer, confused, crushed fruit, dash, discrete, “don’t ask, don’t tell,” fake room, flinker, front marriage, has a phony “roommate,” homie-sexual, insecurious, “longtime bachelor,” navy cake, near queer, old girl, phantom, polar bear, SA/SL, superstraight, token queer, Trojan horse, wannabe breeder
Beard: a woman who is used by a gay man to show that he is “straight.”
BMQ: black market queer.
Don’t ask, don’t tell: policy of the U.S. armed forces, revised under President Clinton, regarding gays in the military.
Front marriage: a gay man and a lesbian married to each other to hide their sexuality.
Homie-sexual: a hip-hop fan who’s in the closet.
Navy cake: a gay sailor.
SA/SL: “straight-acting/ straight looking.”
Superstraight: one who compensates for homosexual urges by becoming ultra-heterosexual in behaviour.
Cocksucker: see Fellatio, One Who Performs
Come: see Ejaculate (to), Orgasm, Semen
Come Out of the Closet (to)
see also Gay Male, Homosexuality, Gay (To Hide your Homosexuality)
Terms for revealing gay or lesbian sexual identity are surprisingly few despite the fact that coming out is an increasingly common practice in Western society.
Until you are out, you won’t know what happiness is.
—Sir Ian McKellen, actor
accept your sexuality, be brought out, come clean, declare, debut, fly the rainbow flag, discover your gender, drop a feather, drop your beads, drop your hairpins, fly the rainbow flag, go over, jump out (with both feet), jump out of the closet, lay it out, learn a new way, let your hair down, on the turn, out (to), reveal your homosexuality, show your true colours, tell the folks, turn the corner, unpin your back hair (to), wave the rainbow, wear your badge
Out (to): when a closeted celebrity is publicly revealed to be gay without their consent.
Photo: Dianne Whelan
Condom
see also Contraception
The oldest illustration of a condom was found in Egypt and dates back more than 3,000 years. An early modern prophylactic may have been invented by a physician, a Dr. Condom, to protect his sovereign, King Charles II (1630-1685). Alternate stories suggest that Condom was a colonel in the British military.