Sex

During a recent visit to the doctor the television show “Big Bang Theory” came to mind (Sheldon’s use of the phrase “voiding my bladder,” if you must know) and I was reminded when I looked at my list of unblogged words of another of Sheldon's idiomatic use of English.

It seems that in English there are subjects and words that are avoided in “polite society,” like Sheldon’s use of “void my bladder” rather than some euphemistic expression. I looked a little bit through previous posts for a good example of the proliferation of words to describe uncomfortable subjects and didn’t quickly find one. If you remember one, feel free to add a comment for others.

Today’s subject matter is sex. To get back to my “Big Bang Theory” opening, another of Sheldon’s “polite society” words is the use of the word coitus for having sex. Having sex is an idiomatic expression for coitus or copulation or fornication or the act of sexual intercourse. It is a general term for various acts (not all of which will be covered in this blog post.)

Sex as a word came to English in the late 1300s as a noun for genders collectively. It comes from the Latin word sexus that means the state of being either male or female. And so it remained for hundreds of years until D.H. Lawrence used the word in 1929 to refer to the act of sexual intercourse. Within 10 years it came to be used to refer to genitalia.

Some other “sex” phrases are older. Sex drive is from 1918, according to etymonline.com, and sex object from 1901. Sex symbol was used in anthropology starting in 1871, but in 1959 a modern anthropologist first used it to describe a woman (Marilyn Monroe, if you must know). Prior to that sex objects were known primarily as pin up girls (the most iconic being Betty Grable), a phrase first attested to in 1941 as Americans joined World War II and sent their men overseas with reminders of what they were fighting for.

But back to “Big Bang Theory.” Sheldon’s use of coitus is correct. Coitus is sexual intercourse, particularly between and man and a woman. Etymonline.com indicates it is synonymous with copulation, and gives its entry date into English as 1713. It comes from the Latin word coitus that means “a meeting together; sexual union.” Before deriving its sexual meaning it referred to any inexorable attraction, as in magnetic force or planetary conjunctions. Coitus interruptus (according to the Collins English Dictionary the deliberate withdrawal of the penis from the vagina before ejaculation) was first used by Havelock Ellis in 1900. Havelock Ellis also is credited by Wikipedia with “introducing the notions of narcissism and autoeroticism.”

Another similar word, coition, is a noun that has been in English since the 1540s and comes from the Late Latin word coitionem, a noun of action developed from the Latin word coitus and was used in English for sexual intercourse 100 years before coitus. I don’t remember ever seeing it used. There's a word for you, Sheldon.

Copulation (the word) came to English from Middle English in the late 1300s. It comes from the Latin word copulationem, a noun of action from the past participle stem (thank you, etymonline.com) of copulare, from which we get copulate. It originally referred to any coupling and has been used of the sex act since the late 1400s; now it is almost exclusively used of sexual intercourse.

Copulate is a verb meaning to engage in sexual intercourse, and has been used in English since the early 1400s. It came from the Latin word copulates, the past participle of copulare. Originally meaning “to join” it eventually (by the 1630s) was used of sexual intercourse.

In usage, coitus is a more scientific term while copulation is a slightly more coarse word, but still acceptable since there are so many euphemisms for sexual intercourse.  

And we haven't gotten to fornication or parturition or priapic or pudendum. Check back next week.