bases

[jester at PANIX.COM]

Lynne Murphy wrote:
> When I was a kid in Catholic school,
>
> First base was kissing
> Second base was feeling (the girl) above the waist (under the clothes)
> Third base was feeling (the girl) below the waist (under the clothes)
> and Home was sex.
>
> There was a more conservative version where first base was hand-holding, but I'm
> not clear on what the other bases were in that one.  I think in that system 'home'
> wasn't sex but was just getting under the clothes.  There were always arguments
> when someone claimed to have been to a certain base over the base-system that was
> being used.

I've never heard of this more conservative system, but the original
system Lynne describes is the one most familiar to me and which I
think is the most widespread.

Other variants are that second base is below-the-waist petting and
third base is oral sex; and a more conservative version where second
base is french-kissing and the others are as described above.  (The
utility of this system seems open to question.)

Jesse Sheidlower
OED