Descriptive language: how do you like it?

[cdstefi]

When either reading or writing about sex.

Do you prefer a more anatomical approach (e.g. penis, vulva, intercourse) or down and dirty (cock, cunt, fucking)?

I like a bit of both mixed together, with it starting using words you could use in polite conversation but progressing towards the dirtier end as the scene climaxes. Can't stand when a writer goes straight in cold with the full on sweary filth (too many male writers are prone to this).

 

[onehitwanda]

it depends on the characters and the style of story and, to be honest, whether they are sneaking a furtive quickie in or it's the end result of a long, hesitant seduction.

 

[SimonDoom]

I try to mix things up, but I also try for a tone that is consistent with the setting and the characters.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Anatomical or medical terms never; colloquial escalation from pussy to cunt with variations in between. Usually always cock or shaft, never ever organ, and twice never ever, dick. That such a cringe for me - it's in the same category as butt.

I was amused the other day, with Stacnash's review of an anal sex story. She thought it "vulgar" that I used "cunt" eight times towards the end, but "ass" fifty times throughout the whole story, but nary a mention about that. Showed her predilections, I guess .

 

[onehitwanda]

Usually always cock or shaft, never ever organ, and twice never ever, dick. That such a cringe for me - it's in the same category as butt.

so...

is a straight no, then?

I'm sorry, I'll stop now

 

[Bramblethorn]

Whatever language the characters having the sex would use about it.

 

[StillStunned]

I could only imagine using "anatomical" language in a sex scene if the POV character was a psychopath.

 

[ElectricBlue]

so...

is a straight no, then?

I'm sorry, I'll stop now

You are a very disturbed person, Wanda.

Carry on .

 

[Altissimus]

I was recently informed I used "fuck" and "fucking" way too much in a story. I mean they weren't wrong, but I like those words. So versatile. So deliciously crude. So fucking easy to overuse.

Fucking outrageous. How fucking dare they? Did you fucking tell the fuck that they were fucking wrong? Like, WTF?

 

[Altissimus]

Do you prefer a more anatomical approach (e.g. penis, vulva, intercourse) or down and dirty (cock, cunt, fucking)?

Neither.

 

[Rob_Royale]

It depends on the intensity of the sex.
The language could be, gently caressing her breast while sliding slowly into her womanhood. Gazing into her eyes, whispering sweet nothings.
Or squeezing her tit forcefully while hammering into her pussy from behind with your hand wrapped in her hair. Screaming in unrestrained lust.

I think there's a time and place for both even in a purely romantic story.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

Can't stand when a writer goes straight in cold with the full on sweaty filth (too many male writers are prone to this).

In July 2019, two men got into an argument. It heated up to the point where one called the other a "bald cunt". The insult went to trial and, three years later, the insulter was judged... for calling his opponent "bald". Not for calling him a cunt. Just for pointing out that he's turning bald.

Why do I mention this? Because, just like "cunt" is an almost everyday word for a significant portion of the British population, I have NEVER heard someone actually use the word "penis" outside the doctor's office. It's always either been "dick" or "cock". That's what's normal for me. So, if I got with a woman, and she started telling me to "massage her labia", it would feel weird. After all, I'm trying to get into the mood for sex, not to write an instruction manual on the female body.

Though, I also have to admit that I didn't expect this question after reading the title. "Descriptive language", to me, is describing what is happening. It has nothing to do with the level of profanity used while describing the act.

Personally, I prefer both to the max. If I read about a deep-throat blowjob, but the author neglects to mention any of the sensations that come with it, I know the author is just describing what they saw in porn, lowering the enjoyment level for me.

 

[SmoothAndSweet]

When having sex I prefer very descriptive talk. I know that some prefer no chatter but I (crazy me) like to here my partner call me bad names and talk nasty about what I am doing. Yes, maybe I am nuts but I get so excited that I have mind shattering, toe curling orgasms

 

[ColinPiper]

One of these days I'll use this line in a story:

"He'd never wanted a girl's anus so much in his life."

That'll get 'em hot under the collar.

 

[cdstefi]

I guess for me the anatomical language is baked into my sexuality as I was given the usual polite, anatomically worded and illustrated guides to sex and intimacy as a teenager, right at the point when the old Adam was stirring and I was discovering masturbation and the joy of the orgasm. I didn't have access to a whole lot of porn at that age so I associate those feelings of incipient then raging horniness with the more technically worded than with the more graphic and colloquially vulgar.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I think vulva, vagina, and glans are pretty words. Though not so pretty as frenulum.

Em

 

[BrightShinyGirl]

I agree that anatomical terms are clinical and creepy.

I also don't like over-precious euphemisms like "manhood" or "honeypot".

I call a cock a "cock". (Or sometimes a "dick". There is a subtle distinction between them. I'm more likely to use "dick" before he's hard and "cock" afterwards.)

A pussy is always a "pussy". (But sometimes I swap in "cunt" to emphasize she really wants it bad.

If you use alternate terms to avoid repeating "cock, pussy, cock, pussy, cock, pussy, pussy, cock" over and over, that's a clue you're spending too much time talking about your characters' genitals. Fix your structure, not your terminology.

 

[PrincessArianrhod]

I was recently informed I used "fuck" and "fucking" way too much in a story. I mean they weren't wrong, but I like those words. So versatile. So deliciously crude. So fucking easy to overuse.

Oh my...!

Fucking outrageous. How fucking dare they? Did you fucking tell the fuck that they were fucking wrong? Like, WTF?

Well, really... Oh my gosh!

 

[djrip]

I like the words vulva and vagina aesthetically, as well as canal, passage, cleft. Folds, ridges, valleys. I'm guilty of using slit from time to time; I don't think of it as offensive, just a descriptive term for the thin line between a pair of plump outer labia - there's another word I enjoy the sound of. Labia. And lips. Pussy, of course. Pearl. Nub. Bead. I don't use the, er, C word. I don't mean clit, I like that one. I guess maybe I should sometimes, especially perhaps in dialog; the C word is used effectively in plenty of stories, but I don't feel right using it myself. I did once say "sodden snatch." I go with breasts and tits, not boobs. Bottoms and asses and behinds. I've said bottom cheeks. I've used asshole, anus, anal ring, puckered rosebud, wrinkly balloon knot.

On the guys side I go with cock, and its head--not so much glans for me, as far as I can recall--and its shaft, perhaps veiny. Characters interact with its girth, and length. Its opening. I'll say urethra. I tend to say penis instead of cock when it's flaccid, I think. I don't use dick. Doesn't seem sexy to me I suppose. I guess I tend to say balls, for the most part; I think I may have used testicles or scrotum somewhere, but I don't favor those terms that much.