Quick question: Is it spelled "come" or "cum"?

[dawg997]

I'm writing a story and have an editor that spells it one way, while I spell it another.
Is the word spelled "cum?" or "come"?
Specifically, I am talking about the male deposit after climax, as well as the act of ejaculation.
I am not talking about the intransitive verb, as an example "Come here, Susie, let me shake your hand."

Thanks in advance for your response!

 

[M_K_Babalon]

It's spelled, or at least by great margin of people agreed it to be cum. Word doesn't mark it as misspell, at least on my phone, but it will mark "cummed". Safe to say it's cum.

 

[RejectReality]

The most consistent answer you'll likely get is that the noun is "cum" and the verb is "come", but it's not a hard and fast rule. Once you start conjugating "cum" as a verb it just looks goofy a lot of the time.

 

[WittyUserName]

I'm writing a story and have an editor that spells it one way, while I spell it another.
Is the word spelled "cum?" or "come"?
Specifically, I am talking about the male deposit after climax, as well as the act of ejaculation.
I am not talking about the intransitive verb, as an example "Come here, Susie, let me shake your hand."

Thanks in advance for your response!

Depends on who you ask. Some people always use 'cum' some always use 'come' and others will use 'cum' to refer to semen but 'come' for 'orgasm.' I don't think any of the three choices is really wrong, it just depends on your preference. I always use 'cum' and don't like seeing 'come' in stories because it never seems right to me. But, that's a personal preference.

 

[Ssbbw4u1974]

Cum

 

[dawg997]

Thanks all for the quick feedback!

 

[SimonDoom]

I use "come" as the verb and "cum" as the noun.

I dislike using "cummed," so I will write "He came on her breasts." The result is "His cum dripped off her breasts."

 

[Comshaw]

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cum

cum
2 of 3
noun
often vulgar, less common spelling of come
often vulgar : semen
often vulgar : orgasm

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cum
cum
verb, noun
not standard for come

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/cum
cum
[ kuhm ]
Phonetic (Standard)
noun
Slang: Vulgar


Comshaw

 

[Voboy]

I use cum and came for the verbs, cum for the noun.

YMMV.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I’d suggest exploring the veritable plethora of excellent and evocative synonyms. It provides variety and that will make your writing so much more engaging. Just my two cents…

 

[RejectReality]

I think the bigger question here is whether your editor will accept the decision you make on this one if you stick with what you're comfortable with. That's going to be more critical than what you choose. Readers are going to bitch and tell you that you're wrong no matter what version or combination you use.

There's nothing in the style manuals for this. The dictionaries more or less accept either version. It's personal preference. Suggesting an alternative that better fits the narrator voice or tone is one thing, calling it "wrong" is another, 'cause it ain't.

 

[ElectricBlue]

For me, it's always come, both for the action and the product.

Cum I can tolerate (as the actress said to the bishop), but cummed is an instant reverse click. It reads like someone didn't get out of primary school.

 

[Cagivagurl]

It's spelt 'Orgasm.'

 

[TheRedChamber]

Thanks all for the quick feedback!

Quick, but hopefully not premature.

 

[nice90sguy]

 

[Lavalliere]

“Come” is classier

 

[PrincessArianrhod]

It's spelt 'Orgasm.'

I love you.

The line between smut and elegance is fine. For me erotic literature can be graphic without being crude.

I judge not, everything is choice...

 

[Voboy]

For me erotic literature can be graphic without being crude.

This is very true, but sometimes the characters just wanna be crude.

"Cum" is one of those words like "cock" or "cunt" whose use, for me, tells the reader something about the kind of person who uses them. More fastidious characters (or narrators, even) do a better job searching for synonyms. It can also be a subtle way to show things like background, socioeconomic level, education, etc.

Yes, some writers just can't stop using "cum" because it's their default. But some of us think about these things a little more carefully, lol.

 

[AlinaX]

Orgasm can be a verb, but gets weird quickly.

 

[Voboy]

Orgasm can be a verb, but gets weird quickly.

This.

And "orgasmed" can be an awfully jarring word.

 

[GlennJenko]

I'm very much in the "come" for the verb and "cum" for the noun camp. I specifically think of cum as semen, so using it to describe the action of orgasming seems wrong to me.

But as has been said, different people have different ideas on it, so do whatever feels right for you.

 

[GuiltyCowboy]

Both are correct.

But, depending on the context, one may be better suited to a particular moment than the other.

Language is fluid: enjoy the different registers, the connotations, the rules, flouting the rules.

Some people think ‘cum’ as a verb is icky, childish, not classy etc - and that’s all to be put to use too.

Personally, ‘cum’ as a verb has a clarity and a tiny frisson of intimacy to it that ‘come’ just doesn’t. That’s my feeling. And I value those qualities. But ‘cummed’ is odd enough that it doesn’t work at all for me. So, yeah, language is fluid. Kind of like, um,…

 

[LauraLO]

It's spelt 'Orgasm.'

Definitely spelled 0-r-g-a-s-m

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

I've always used "cum" and "cumming" because it made it clear that this was the sexual slang rather than the usual use of the word.

"I'm coming!" Mom yelled to me from the kitchen. - Completely normal

"I'm cumming!" Mom yelled to me from the kitchen - Only on Literotica

It makes a difference, lol.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I prefer come for both (partly because it's necessary to make a favourite joke work in writing: What's white and zooms through the air at a million miles an hour? The coming of the Lord.)

Also I'm just classy, me. But when a couple of my characters are narrating, they might use cum for the substance. Never as a verb. Someone calling "I'm going to cum!" always reads to me like they are going to be magically transformed into semen and dissolve...