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This Is How People Described Sex in 1592

For as long as humans have been around, we’ve loved talking about sex. And for just about as long, we’ve needed a way to talk about sex without getting too graphic. Today, if we want to tell our closest pal about a bedroom experience, we might say something like “Last night, my partner and I did the ol’ horizontal foxtrot!” or “No, people DO actually say that, YOU’RE the weird one, I don’t want to be friends with YOU any more.”

But what did people say hundreds of years ago when they wanted to talk about sex? Thanks to lexicographer Jonathan Green, author of Green’s Dictionary of Slang, now we know! If you think the way we talk about sex is weird now, just look at how they talked about it in Shakespeare’s day, and the centuries that followed.

1. Play nug-a-nug (1505)

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

2. Board a land carrack (1604)

Photo Credit: Art Net

3. Dance the Paphian jig (1656)

Photo Credit: Sotheby’s

4. Play at rumpscuttle and clapperdepouch (1684)

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

5. Ride a dragon upon St. George (1698)

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

6. Put the devil into hell (1616)

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

7. Join giblets (1680)

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

8. Join paunches (1656)

Photo Credit: Wiki Art

9. Make feet for the children’s stockings (1785)

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

10. Pogue the hone (1719)

Photo Credit: Wiki Art

11. Have one’s corn ground (1800)

Photo Credit: Wiki Art

12. Princum-prancum (1630)

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

13. Horizontal refreshment (1863)

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

14. Fadoodling (1611)

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

15. Arrive at the end of a sentimental journey (1896)

Photo Credit: Wiki Art

 

h/t: So Bad So Good

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