Pussy by any other name would smell as sweet

[JanusGoneAwry]

By the very nature of our subject matter we name and describe both male and female genitalia more than pretty much anyone else and I am curious about how you as an author of erotica tackle those names.

Do you stick with a common name like Pussy, Dick, Cunt, and Cock?

Are you fond of the clinical names like Vagina, Penis, Clitoris, and Testicles?

Or do you go to one of the hundreds of pet names like, Love Missile or Musky Cave?

My question isn’t intended to compile a thesaurus of names but rather I’m curious about if the frequency of use of any particular word/name has an impact on your word choice?

I understand there is no correct answer to my inquiry nor am I looking for one, rather, I am simply curious about how you deal with the 10th, 20th or 30th use of the word pussy, dick et al.

5...4...3...2...1 Blast off

 

[vanmyers86]

It depends on the characters and time period. I generally stick with what the character I'm describing would use. For example, a story set 100 years used different terms from those in a contemporary story. And in modern settings, a shy novice would use different terms than an experienced enthusiast, in all likelihood.

In third person POV, I might use any from your first two groups, but I tend to avoid cutesy euphemisms (unless one of my characters would use them, which has not yet happened, thank goodness). When I read them in others' stories, they jolt me right out of the moment.

 

[AlexCLawrence]

I avoid using the words when I don't need it.

"She felt him buried deep inside her, stretching her completely as warm
waves of pleasure radiated over her body."

I use the clinical names sparingly, the common names more often than not, and stay far
away from 'love missile' and all that shit.
Reading an erotica is about sexual tension and arousal, and nothing pops that bubble faster than saying 'meat stick' 'pork sword' 'pork spear' and so on.

And no matter what stupid description you give it, like a radiant pussy, a cunt is a cunt, and a dick is a dick.
As Stephen King once said, the competent writer understand that "although a lesbian may be angry, her breasts will remain breasts" and not angry lesbian breasts.

 

[Kantarii]

Certain words I steer clear unless there’s a practical use for such a word like “cunt”. It’s demeaning and I’ve only used twice in my 51 chapters. Overusing the word takes away from the full impact when it’s actually used. Less is more.
Kant

 

[JanusGoneAwry]

Certain words I steer clear unless there’s a practical use for such a word like “cunt”. It’s demeaning and I’ve only used twice in my 51 chapters. Overusing the word takes away from the full impact when it’s actually used. Less is more.
Kant

The nature of the word cunt notwithstanding I’m curious about your comment concerning how the impact of certain words is watered down when over used.

Is it just that word you are talking about or is it in a broader sense? Also is it a shock value thing or something else?

I’m curious because I’ve written principally for women friends and I’m sensitive to the word so I use it sparingly but the word’s phonics is angular and aggressive so in the heat of passion I feel like it’s the word for the emotion at that time.

Do phonics or mouth feel play in your prose?

Color me curious

 

[ElectricBlue]

There's a long thread on this somewhere, sometime last year, so we'll all repeat ourselves.

I use cock, shaft, length, sex, prick, rod (sometimes), head, balls, testes; but never ever not once, not ever, dick. In Australia, thirteen year old boys have dicks, grown men never do. It's usually an immediate run away, for me. It just reads pre-pubescent, a kid on a bicycle. It's a cringe. So there's a big cultural difference, because it seems to be the primary American usage, from what I can see.

For women, I tend to use cunt (to give the power of the word back to powerful women who can handle it), sex, lips, clit, clitoris, occasionally labia, core, pussy in moderation, wetness, slide, slit. In my most recent chapter, there's a deliberately coarse gash, but that's rare.

 

[KeithD]

I'd only put "pussy" in a juvenile-minded character's dialogue. I usually use cunt, when I refer to it at all. I use cock and shaft, mostly.

 

[OmnislashXX]

Manhood or womanhood. Shaft, snake, branch, meat, etc. Opening, cave, cavern, crack, canyon, crevice, Labia, lips, clitoris, to name a few.

 

[SimonDoom]

I will use just about any term, including the usual ones, but not silly euphemisms like Love Missile or Musky Cave. I am looking for the right opportunity to use "hot box" because I remember someone using that term when I was young and it made me laugh so much it stuck with me. Someday, I'll plug it into a story. Probably not a serious story.

My go-to term for the man is cock and my go-to term for the female is pussy. I hear what KeithD is saying, although I don't think of it as juvenile so much as a bit too light-hearted. But my usage is based on the fact that of the women I've known some did not like the use of the word "cunt," while almost all used "pussy."

 

[SamScribble]

I'm English. I have characters using cunt - but only if they are upper or upper-middle class. Further down the socio-economic scale, the word tends to take on a different tone and meaning.

Many years ago, I was having a drink with a posh totty friend when a rough and ready fellow nearby started talking about her to his mates. At some point, he must have said cunt. My posh totty friend turned her chair around and said: 'I do hope that you are referring to my cunt and not to me in a general sense. Because if you are calling me a cunt, you are likely to find yourself eating your meals through a straw for the next few weeks.' The fellow left shortly after that.

 

[NotWise]

I use cock and shaft for men, plus other words for detail.

Narrative and dialogue are different.

In narrative, and for right now, I don't have a single word for a woman's parts. It's all such a complicated space down there. I don't really like 'pussy' The word is heavily overused. I use 'cunt' carefully. Vagina is not my favorite word.

In dialogue, the word depends on the character and the situation.

 

[JanusGoneAwry]

OK so I was hoping to steer clear of a word list. There are lots of those.

My question has more to do with how you deal with the repetition of the same or a very limited number of terms?

Additionally about how or if phonetics play in your word choice.

I’m sorry if it was a confusing question.

 

[NotWise]

My question has more to do with how you deal with the repetition of the same or a very limited number of terms?

My solution is to not use the term if you can get around it. This may be disappointing to readers who want to read 'her pussy' over and over and over.

 

[KeithD]

My question has more to do with how you deal with the repetition of the same or a very limited number of terms?

In contrast to what I hear from some others, I hammer away at a single word when I want to convey intensity. Conversely, although I'll vary the terms used for the same thing in proximity, I avoid the thesaurus approach.

 

[AlexCLawrence]

Pretty much. If the reader knows what you're referring to via context, why bother with the word?

 

[NotWise]

Pretty much. If the reader knows what you're referring to via context, why bother with the word?

I do depend on context and try not to repeat, but then I don't represent the readers. In a recent story I used an expression like "He pushed himself into her," and got the comment from some reader, "Must have been a tight fit," as if he were fitting more than his dick into her.

You might not want to overestimate the readers. There is a large community here who will be excited by 'dirty' words, and their repetition is just more exciting. I don't cater to them, but you're the writer and it's all your choice.

 

[ChasingAnna]

My word choice in writing mirrors my word choice in real life. Cock and pussy 95% of the time. Other variations are used to communicate something specific.

 

[ElectricBlue]

My question has more to do with how you deal with the repetition of the same or a very limited number of terms?

Additionally about how or if phonetics play in your word choice.

By mixing up the various terms (not in a strict rotation, more according to the mood of the scene), describing movement and emotion rather than just the organ or body part, describing colour, smell, touch, feel, surrounding sensations. Applying all five senses, remembering the whole body contains multiple erogenous zones, so bringing them all into play. One of my sex scenes was written around a freckle on a wrist (and of course, most folk have two wrists ).

Changing the sentence structure, changing cadence, timing, rhythm, repetition depending on the heat of the scene - hot rapid fuck, slow languid sex, soft gentle love, that kind of thing. Weaving the words to suit the mood. A smorgasbord or a snack, it all depends on the mood, really.

 

[Kantarii]

The nature of the word cunt notwithstanding I’m curious about your comment concerning how the impact of certain words is watered down when over used.

Is it just that word you are talking about or is it in a broader sense? Also is it a shock value thing or something else?

I’m curious because I’ve written principally for women friends and I’m sensitive to the word so I use it sparingly but the word’s phonics is angular and aggressive so in the heat of passion I feel like it’s the word for the emotion at that time.

Do phonics or mouth feel play in your prose?

Color me curious

I apologize. I was trailing off with the shock factor thing. Words such as cunt, twat, bimbo, whore, tramp, etc. I dress like a woman so certain words I avoid, but tranny, shemale, and chick with a dick are no-no’s as well.

As far as impact: two women calling each other cunt lacks the same impact as a man calling a woman a cunt. That’s what I was getting at.
To your original OP: I tend to mix things up, but also steer clear of clinical words such as penis and vagina. When I read those words on Lit, I tend to think of younger people using them in speech.

I saw his penis.( this sounds and reads childish at least to me)
He showed me his dick.
I have a cock as well.
My shaft isn’t as long as his.

 

[Kantarii]

Manhood or womanhood. Shaft, snake, branch, meat, etc. Opening, cave, cavern, crack, canyon, crevice, Labia, lips, clitoris, to name a few.

Thank God you didn’t use the word gash. I’ve used clit and vulva before, thoughKant

 

[Hypoxia]

I use whatever word seems appropriate for the character or narrator in the story context. Parody invites sardonic excess.

 

[JanusGoneAwry]

By mixing up the various terms (not in a strict rotation, more according to the mood of the scene), describing movement and emotion rather than just the organ or body part, describing colour, smell, touch, feel, surrounding sensations. Applying all five senses, remembering the whole body contains multiple erogenous zones, so bringing them all into play. One of my sex scenes was written around a freckle on a wrist (and of course, most folk have two wrists ).

Changing the sentence structure, changing cadence, timing, rhythm, repetition depending on the heat of the scene - hot rapid fuck, slow languid sex, soft gentle love, that kind of thing. Weaving the words to suit the mood. A smorgasbord or a snack, it all depends on the mood, really.

Thank you. I am also very tuned into the nature of the context of the scene and the emotion of the characters at the time.

I've written a story where my protagonist--Summer--is being fucked roughly by an egomaniac, and he repeatedly uses the word cunt as well as slut and whore, but that's what the girl I wrote the story for wanted.

She had a fantasy about being degraded while being fucked, and it was almost a Non-Con/Con story but not quite. I organically tended towards shorter sentences and shorter words with hard consonants where possible, in particular in the dialog, because it made the scene feel more aggressive and faster paced.

I am revisiting and editing my older stories right now, and I'm finding that in many of them I am highly repetitive when it comes to naming genitals and other orifices.

I appreciate the feedback.

 

[KeithD]

I've written a story where my protagonist--Summer--is being fucked roughly by an egomaniac, and he repeatedly uses the word cunt as well as slut and whore, but that's what the girl I wrote the story for wanted.

That also appears to be what helps establish the character using those words and his attitude toward the protagonist, not seeing her as Summer, but just as a vessel of release for him.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I'm English. I have characters using cunt - but only if they are upper or upper-middle class. Further down the socio-economic scale, the word tends to take on a different tone and meaning.

Many years ago, I was having a drink with a posh totty friend when a rough and ready fellow nearby started talking about her to his mates. At some point, he must have said cunt. My posh totty friend turned her chair around and said: 'I do hope that you are referring to my cunt and not to me in a general sense. Because if you are calling me a cunt, you are likely to find yourself eating your meals through a straw for the next few weeks.' The fellow left shortly after that.

I think I posted this one last time we did this discussion, but it's good enough to repeat: delightfully nuanced discussion between Edgar Wright & British Board of Film Classification about the use of "cunt" in Wright's films.

 

[yukonnights]

In general, I try to avoid too much anatomical description and instead try to paint emotions. I seldom write something primarily intended to "get some one off". In direct response to the question; I've asked what females call their bits when talking in a non-sexual context; Boobs and twat were the common ones. Panties is a rare word, and underwear more common. The term 'dick' wins out over 'cock'. In real life, I've never shouted, "I'm going to feed this monster to you now, baby!" In fact, words are actually pretty rare during intimacy...at least that's been my experience. BUT, what works for gentle intimacy isn't the same as a Dom/sub gay scene...or in the one the OP is working on. As always, there's no one right answer.

This all really, really depends on the tone of the story and the narrative POV it's written in. First person works well to build sexual imagery and excitement but it begins to get limited/repetitive pretty quickly IMO. In the way I write, third person omniscient with plenty of dialogue usually works best for me.
*****

For any who may be interested, here's a couple of examples. As you can see, lot's of words about emotions/feelings/thoughts ;

1) From my 750 word entry, the ending between twins first time (first person)

I stood, looking down on her completely exposed to my gaze. Our eyes touched once more, we both said yes in silence. As if to prove her desire, she spread her legs a little wider. I could see the pink slit now and it was all I needed to be sure. I stripped under her gaze, my turgid cock grateful to be free…she touched it one time before I lay between her legs, tasting her...she groaned encouragement, urging me forward...as our eyes locked I tenderly pierced her, consummating our love.

2) From the first sex between two inexperienced lesbians (third person)

Too soon the swollen nipple felt abandoned, and the other one took it's turn delighting in the loving attention offered...the pressure between her legs stole Kendra’s attention away and she pushed upward in response to the warmth pushing into her! Again and again she fucked upward as Lisa pushed down into her, grinding and rubbing as if trying to wipe her cunt away in victory…and pleasuring her clit in a way she had never known, her legs lifted and spread wider. Lisa felt that surrender and her heart thrilled as her lover wrapped those legs high up on her muscular thighs...urging her for more! Neither of them knew...could have never known that it could be like this! Slick and wet and more arousing than anything either of them had even imagined...yet soft and tender and safe...so safe in a way they had never expereinced. It was all new, and so very natural......