'Come' or 'Cum'

[SevenSquared]

Okay fellow authors, get your opinion hats on.

I am writing a story and I am forever dithering over the 'correct' spelling of come/cum. I always assumed 'come' was correct and 'cum' was just vernacular, but it doesn't seem to be as simple as that. Dictionaries seem to recognise both spellings as valid and 'cum' is actually used so extensively now that 'come' actually looks quite odd sometimes, especially given its widely-used other meaning.

In fact, I had almost abandoned 'come' for 'cum' completely, but then I started having trouble with that too. Firstly it looks odd and a bit vulgar in a story that uses mostly traditional dialect when using descriptive prose (e.g. 'breasts' and 'penis' rather than 'tits' and 'dick') Also some of the other forms of the verb don't seem to work so well. 'Cumming' always looks slightly odd to me and don't even get me started on the past tense ('cummed' just sounds like 5-year-old grammar).

So what's your opinion on the issue? Do you use one or the other, or even a mix of both? Does it depend on the story? All opinions welcome.

 

[Darkniciad]

The overwhelming opinon on the forum has always been that "come" is the verb and "cum" is a noun. Orgasm vs. the fluid.

The problem with "cum" is that it's clumsy as hell when you start dealing with tenses as a verb.

Cummed

Has cum

Ridiculous looking, isn't it?

Doesn't stop a couple of anonymous commenters from constantly saying that "come" doesn't mean orgasm

 

[sr71plt]

Yes, the current conventional usage is "cum" as the noun and "come" as the verb.

 

[SevenSquared]

As simple as that eh? Cheers guys.

 

[Noira]

I have a kneejerk hate for "cum" and will not use it. There are other ways to say orgasm... oh look, I just said orgasm. And I agree that come/cum is very clumsy sounding when read. So here is my solution:

Write the character as a person. If they're the kind of person who'd say cum, then write cum. If they're the kind of person who'd say orgasm, or think orgasm, or think something entirely different relevant to the topic of reaching climax, then write that in your narrative; write that in your dialogue. People of different upbringings will have different thoughts about what's the best word, and as a writer, it's not your job to care about "which word is right", your job should be to ask "which word would be right for the character from whose point of view I am writing this story."

It's THAT simple. I as a writer may very well hate cum and cunt as words (I think I just hate the "cu" sound), and I really think "bum" is the most stupid unsexy word in the universe, but sometimes I write characters for whom those would be better choices than my personal preferences of orgasm/climax, pussy, and arse. You know how it goes. If your story uses mostly traditional choices, try "orgasm" on for size...

And the past tense of "cum/come" is "came", no matter how you spell it, and the present tense is "coming" though I suppose you could get away with "cumming". There's definitely no "cummed".

 

[SevenSquared]

That's fine if you're talking about which words to use in dialogue, but not if you're debating how to spell a word used in the descriptive narrative.

 

[PennLady]

I doubt this is in the CSM, but I checked a couple of publishing sites like Excessica, and in their submission guidelines, they specify using "come" as the verb and "cum" as the noun.

 

[Pure]

note to noira and seven

People of different upbringings will have different thoughts about what's the best word, and as a writer, it's not your job to care about "which word is right", your job should be to ask "which word would be right for the character from whose point of view I am writing this story."

this would apply to first person stories, of course. the standard third person narrative has a real or implied narrator (not necessarily the author); it's his or her characteristics and typical word choices one has to go by--e.g., refined, crude, shy, sexually inexperienced. there has to be consistency. if the narrator is going to mention 'cunt' then he or she had better not say, a bit later, 'private area.' (we are leaving aside dialogue, where your advice, of course, applies.)

i agree as to the verb-noun thing that's been already stated, though it took
a while to get used to the crudity [to me] of 'cum.'

 

[sethp]

Other points.

Great thread. I have the same problem.

What's better?

"He came in her mouth." I use that a lot and think it's correct and just sounds good. I have more of a problem with dialogue. "I'm going to cum." "I'm going to come." The first looks better. I actually say that in real life, usually while getting a blowjob and as a warning so that the lady can chose how she wants to deal with it. LOL

Other problems: Orgasmed..Orgasm'd. What do you use or what do you use to replace that word. for example: Her eyes rolled back into her head after she Orgasmed. You could say after she came but that word is used too much, at least by me.

Jism is another word. What other words do you use instead of Cum, Jism, Semen, Seed, Fluid, Ejaculation, discharge? Discharge generally sounds too medical to be sexual.

Thoughts?

 

[sr71plt]

I doubt this is in the CSM, but I checked a couple of publishing sites like Excessica, and in their submission guidelines, they specify using "come" as the verb and "cum" as the noun.

Yes, that's what I based the "what is conventional" on--what the publishers of erotica are citing when they cite it at all.

And the question was not whether or not to use come/cum; it was on how to best-case use the term.

 

[Handley_Page]

A victorian word for ejaculation was "Spend"

 

[michchick98]

I doubt this is in the CSM, but I checked a couple of publishing sites like Excessica, and in their submission guidelines, they specify using "come" as the verb and "cum" as the noun.

Yeah, that's in Excessica's guidelines and I've also read quite a few (non Excessica) authors who've used both depending on if it's the verb or the noun.

Great thread. I have the same problem.

What's better?

"He came in her mouth." I use that a lot and think it's correct and just sounds good. I have more of a problem with dialogue. "I'm going to cum." "I'm going to come." The first looks better. I actually say that in real life, usually while getting a blowjob and as a warning so that the lady can chose how she wants to deal with it. LOL

I think "He came in her mouth" is fine for that usage. Gets the point across and as another stated, there is no cummed/comed. That just 'sounds' ridiculous and amateurish as well.

As for "I'm going to come" I think if I were writing it, that's how I would write it. Even if the guy said, "I'm going to come on your tits." Now if he said, "I'm going to shoot cum all over your tits!" then (obviously) I'd use cum. And for the previous paragraph, even if he said, "I'm going to come in your mouth" obviously come is used. I think you get it.

Other problems: Orgasmed..Orgasm'd. What do you use or what do you use to replace that word. for example: Her eyes rolled back into her head after she Orgasmed. You could say after she came but that word is used too much, at least by me.

How about climaxed? My spell checker always picks up orgasmed as a spelling error. When I edit, I usually will change orgasmed to climaxed. It just 'sounds' better.

Jism is another word. What other words do you use instead of Cum, Jism, Semen, Seed, Fluid, Ejaculation, discharge? Discharge generally sounds too medical to be sexual.

Thoughts?

I've never used jism and I don't think I ever would. Personally, I don't like the word. I use cum, semen or seed mostly. If I'm writing a woman's climax, I usually use juice, nectar or honey for lack of better words.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I tend to say "cum" whether referring to having an orgasm or to semen. Cumming is a perfectly good word, but I have a problem with "cummed." I don't know why, since drummed, bummed, hummed, summed and similar words are perfectly okay. Maybe it's because when I say "Cummed" I see the sentence: "I kiked down the door and cummed in her face." in my mind.

I don't know why, but I have a thing about "orgasm." Women have orgasms. A M to F TS can have an orgasm and even a gay man can have an orgasm, but a straight man does not. He has a climax. Anybody can cum or climax, but a straight man cannot have an orgasm, although anybody else can, and they do, repeatedly, in the smut I write.

 

[CuntBoy]

People of different upbringings will have different thoughts about what's the best word, and as a writer, it's not your job to care about "which word is right", your job should be to ask "which word would be right for the character from whose point of view I am writing this story."

It's THAT simple. I as a writer may very well hate cum and cunt as words (I think I just hate the "cu" sound), and I really think "bum" is the most stupid unsexy word in the universe, but sometimes I write characters for whom those would be better choices than my personal preferences of orgasm/climax, pussy, and arse. You know how it goes. If your story uses mostly traditional choices, try "orgasm" on for size...

I think that you are very right about the characters, they should be as lifelike as possible, but I also have a problem with that.

I write because I enjoy writing.

I don't write for the readers or for the characters (mostly), I write because writing is a fun thing to do. When I write stories, I want to then be able to go back and read them again and think: "Wow, that was a great story!" I don't want to go back and spend my time agonizing over whether whether or not one single word should be where it is.

My advice is this: use whichever word feels right for you. Even the most uptight person would recognise that there is a time and a place for everything. If you think that one particular moment in your story demands the use of "cum" instead of "come", then use "cum", why does it have to be one or the other?

 

[Boxlicker101]

I have a kneejerk hate for "cum" and will not use it. There are other ways to say orgasm... oh look, I just said orgasm. And I agree that come/cum is very clumsy sounding when read. So here is my solution:

Write the character as a person. If they're the kind of person who'd say cum, then write cum. If they're the kind of person who'd say orgasm, or think orgasm, or think something entirely different relevant to the topic of reaching climax, then write that in your narrative; write that in your dialogue. People of different upbringings will have different thoughts about what's the best word, and as a writer, it's not your job to care about "which word is right", your job should be to ask "which word would be right for the character from whose point of view I am writing this story."

It's THAT simple. I as a writer may very well hate cum and cunt as words (I think I just hate the "cu" sound), and I really think "bum" is the most stupid unsexy word in the universe, but sometimes I write characters for whom those would be better choices than my personal preferences of orgasm/climax, pussy, and arse. You know how it goes. If your story uses mostly traditional choices, try "orgasm" on for size...

And the past tense of "cum/come" is "came", no matter how you spell it, and the present tense is "coming" though I suppose you could get away with "cumming". There's definitely no "cummed".

These are not characters in a comic strip who read word baloons. Supposedly, a character says something and others hear what is said. That being the case, how anybody know how the speakers spell the words they say? This could be an English teacher who says "I'm coming" or it could be a Skid Row bum who says "I'm cumming," and nobody could tell the difference. Of course, if the narrator has a certain status, that would be another matter.

I don't think I have ever said : "He came in her mouth." I would say something like: "With a cry of joy, he climaxed, spurting his cum into her mouth, and she tightened her lips so none of the delicious semen would leak out."

Of course, I'm just a writer of smut.

 

[Kurokami]

To me, 'come,' has a non-sexual connotation, whereas 'cum,' is clearly sexual. I'll always use 'cum,' although the past tense is still 'came,' because that sounds correct to me. In my mind, that's just how the words match up, and I always sort of justify it like this: since 'cum,' has a clear sexual connotation, it frees me up to use 'come,' as a purely non-sexual word.

I know that's highly personal and I don't exactly have the rules of grammar on my side, or whatever, but I don't write to be grammatically or linguistically correct- though that is a side effect, most of the time. I write because I enjoy it, and to me, 'cum,' is sexual, and that's how my characters would use it; I write in third person, but the narration tends to stick in the head of a single character, hopping from one to the other. The spelling of words is subject to that.

 

[sr71plt]

To me, 'come,' has a non-sexual connotation, whereas 'cum,' is clearly sexual.

I think this is the reason that the division will probably eventually be completely made, with "cum" being used as a verb in the sexual context.

 

[dirtybelle]

Well most romantic novels say come, which I like, not as vulgar.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Well most romantic novels say come, which I like, not as vulgar.

Maybe so, but some of us like to write smut.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

cum:
Alternate spelling for come . Some people make a distinction between cum , the noun, semen , and come , the verb, to reach orgasm . Dictionary of Sexual Terms

As far as using 'unpleasant' words like cum, cunt, whatever... There are times when that slap of vulgarity of certain words is just what you want in a story. There are times when he slides his penis into her vagina, and there are times when he rams his scumbone into her cunt. A big part of the art of writing is choosing words that not only convey the right meaning and connotation, but the right kind of aural percussion too. Linguists talk about the "klang response," the connotations we give a word simply based on its sound

Also from the DoST: Cunt: 1. The female genitalia . Usage: Cunt has been taboo for at least 600 years; today, most women consider it to be the single most offensive word in the English language. When you get down to it, there just really aren't very many euphonious words for the vagina.

I read somewhere that the association of the "Cu" sound with the female genitalia is amazingly widespread linguistically, and even goes back to Proto-Indo-European.

 

[SlickTony]

Cum should only be used as a noun. If you're using it as a verb, it should be spelled properly.

 

[Boxlicker101]

duplicate post

 

[Boxlicker101]

Cum should only be used as a noun. If you're using it as a verb, it should be spelled properly.

The Online Dictionary includes "cum" as both a noun and a verb and describes it as vulgar slang. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cum

Since I write vulgar stories, I use a lot of vulgar slang, and I will continue to use "cum" as both a noun and verb.

 

[silkstockingslover]

Interesting enough sometimes fans will tell me I am spelling come wrong when I don't use cum as a verb.

Estragon was great at pointing out my excessive use of cum as a verb and a noun....

As already mentioned there clearly is a difference....

 

[cfuhrer]

distinction between cum , the noun, semen , and come , the verb, to reach orgasm

This is the way I usually go.

Kuro raises an interesting point with the connotation argument, though.