articles on euphemisms for sex

[Wilson Gray]

On Jan 31, 2005, at 11:31 PM, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject:      Re: articles on euphemisms for sex
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>> One suspects that the term "frottist" has been popularized because
>> "frotteur" and "frotteuse" are gender-specific and too hard to spell.
>
> I don't think "frottist" is common or popular ... probably an
> occasional
> variant or outright error.
>
> Google (searching the WWCE, the Worldwide Web of Crass Errors) finds
> four
> hits for "frottist", vs. a raw number of 5900 for "frotteur". There
> are 13
> English-language hits for "frotteuse", a word which I don't remember
> ever
> seeing before today.
>
> In my experience "frotteur" and "frottage" usually do not refer to
> sexual
> rubbing in general (very conventional!) but to a person (usually a
> man) who
> rubs his body against strangers on a train or bus or something like
> that,
> presumably as a 'sexual' activity.
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>

"In your _expereience_?! Jeez, Doug!  How about using a little
discretion?! That's too much information! In any case, I agree with the
general thrust of your last paragraph and add that copping a feel under
the circumstances described is usually also considered to be an
instance of frottage.

-Wilson Gray