cum vs. come?

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I'm trying to decide whether to use "cum" or "come" in a story.

What I think works for me is to use "come" for having an orgasm and "cum" for the resulting fluid.

Does that make sense, or will it be confusing on the page?

What do you do?

RandyVicar said:

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I'm trying to decide whether to use "cum" or "come" in a story.

What I think works for me is to use "come" for having an orgasm and "cum" for the resulting fluid.

Does that make sense, or will it be confusing on the page?

What do you do?

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I have always preferred cum myself. Sounds much more forceful and masculine to me. Though, I think that it may be up for individual interpretation.

RandyVicar said:

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I'm trying to decide whether to use "cum" or "come" in a story.

What I think works for me is to use "come" for having an orgasm and "cum" for the resulting fluid.

Does that make sense, or will it be confusing on the page?

What do you do?

Click to expand...

That's what most erotica publishers seem to prefer, yes.

I think the use of 'cum', not just as a noun, but as a verb too is widely established. This page shows both arguments for, and against:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_...stions_about_when_to_use_which_sexy_term.html
But I agree with her final comments:
"Without getting too torrid about it, sometimes a gentleman is not coming in a liquid sigh of polite satisfaction but … cumming. Like a geyser with an attitude problem."
The idea being that depending on your characters and the situation, you might want them to say: "Gosh, I think I'm coming." or, "Fuck!" I'm cumming!". Of course, back in the narrative, this marker of register will be lost as the past tense of both 'cum' and 'come' is 'came'.

lovelasses said:

I think the use of 'cum', not just as a noun, but as a verb too is widely established. This page shows both arguments for, and against:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_...stions_about_when_to_use_which_sexy_term.html
But I agree with her final comments:
"Without getting too torrid about it, sometimes a gentleman is not coming in a liquid sigh of polite satisfaction but … cumming. Like a geyser with an attitude problem."
The idea being that depending on your characters and the situation, you might want them to say: "Gosh, I think I'm coming." or, "Fuck!" I'm cumming!". Of course, back in the narrative, this marker of register will be lost as the past tense of both 'cum' and 'come' is 'came'.

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Thank you for sharing your cum/come with us!

It was forming the past tense/participle that I had to agree that 'come' is far easier as a verb. Trying to write 'cummed' sounds childish, not sexy. I did wonder if I could say 'he cam inside her', which is a little fun, but I find myself having to resort to the conservative 'came'.

In different languages, it becomes obvious that 'cum' is just a cheeky misspelling of 'come'. In French I use the verb 'venir', and, continuing the Romance, we would say 'venir' in Spanish and 'venire' in Italian. Getting all Germanic, we have 'kommen' in German and 'komma' in Swedish. So, all of Europe is really just coming. Of course, we have some more beautiful words in French: 'on jute' (one juices!) or 'on jouit' (one joys -- popular with the ladies!). In German 'man spritzt'!

When we come to the noun, the cum, I don't think many languages make a noun of their verb for 'come'. There's the French 'jute' (kind of 'juice') or 'foutre' ('fuck'), and the German 'Wichse' ('wank'). My favourite is the Spanish 'leche' ('milk'), but I don't think it is only used in European Spanish. It makes you think when you order your coffee 'con leche'!

Gorza said:

Thank you for sharing your cum/come with us!

In different languages, it becomes obvious that 'cum' is just a cheeky misspelling of 'come'. In French I use the verb 'venir', and, continuing the Romance, we would say 'venir' in Spanish and 'venire' in Italian. Getting all Germanic, we have 'kommen' in German and 'komma' in Swedish. So, all of Europe is really just coming. Of course, we have some more beautiful words in French: 'on jute' (one juices!) or 'on jouit' (one joys -- popular with the ladies!). In German 'man spritzt'!

When we come to the noun, the cum, I don't think many languages make a noun of their verb for 'come'. There's the French 'jute' (kind of 'juice') or 'foutre' ('fuck'), and the German 'Wichse' ('wank'). My favourite is the Spanish 'leche' ('milk'), but I don't think it is only used in European Spanish. It makes you think when you order your coffee 'con leche'!

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Here in Brazil we have the verb, 'gozar', which can also mean to 'to enjoy' or 'to possess', as well as 'to come/cum'. The associated noun, 'gozo' can mean 'enjoyment', 'pleasure' or 'fruition' in general, as well as the sexual sense.
It is however, not used so much for the actual ejaculate. Here we use the noun 'porra', which besides meaning 'cum', is aslo widely used as an expletive, along the lines of 'fuck!' or 'fucking!'
I'm not sure if Continental Portuguese has any other terms they use.

lovelasses said:

Here in Brazil we have the verb, 'gozar', which can also mean to 'to enjoy' or 'to possess', as well as 'to come/cum'. The associated noun, 'gozo' can mean 'enjoyment', 'pleasure' or 'fruition' in general, as well as the sexual sense.
It is however, not used so much for the actual ejaculate. Here we use the noun 'porra', which besides meaning 'cum', is aslo widely used as an expletive, along the lines of 'fuck!' or 'fucking!'
I'm not sure if Continental Portuguese has any other terms they use.

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I think 'gozar' sounds akin to the French 'jouit', as it comes from Latin 'gaude'. As an Englishman, I think of it as more descriptive of the female orgasm, and find it odd to read erotica that translates as 'he joyed in her mouth'. I suppose the problem we have with our sexual slang, in so many languages, is that it's very masculine: 'wank', 'cum', 'jizz', 'fuck' can be used to describe a woman's experience, but they are really borrowing men's vocabulary. I think I remember Sweden having a campaign for a neologism to describe women's masturbation, realising that borrowing the masculine word was not good enough.

Gorza said:

I think 'gozar' sounds akin to the French 'jouit', as it comes from Latin 'gaude'.

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That's right. From Wiktionary:
gaudēre
present active infinitive of gaudeō
"to rejoice"
"to take pleasure in"

I think before you choose which version of the word you want to use, you need to finalize your writing style and audience for your particular story.

Will you tell a lighter more romantic story or a dirty flesh feast? Will you be the Agatha Christie or the James Ellroy of erotica?

Once you decide these two items, I think the word choice will naturally come.

I also strongly suggest that you be consistent once you make your choice.

Best of luck!

goofychick said:

Once you decide these two items, I think the word choice will naturally come.!

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"She thought long and hard about whether she wanted a lighter, more romantic story or a dirty flesh feast. She tried to relax, knowing she couldn't force it, when, all of a sudden, the word choice came in her mouth. She strongly suggested down its consistency, glad that the choice she had wanted so badly had come for her, and only for her."

Gorza said:

"She thought long and hard about whether she wanted a lighter, more romantic story or a dirty flesh feast. She tried to relax, knowing she couldn't force it, when, all of a sudden, the word choice came in her mouth. She strongly suggested down its consistency, glad that the choice she had wanted so badly had come for her, and only for her."

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You made me laugh Thank-you!

goofychick said:

You made me laugh Thank-you!

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And, perhaps, having a good laugh is the closest experience to coming. So, it's an honour to make you laugh!