"hook up with" in England ...

[Joel S. Berson]

At 1/17/2013 08:32 AM, Amy West wrote:
>I first heard of foam parties 20+ years ago in Spain, so no, they're not
>unique to England. I never understood them. But now I see why they might
>be so popular. All I can say is "ewww." I thought peeing in the pool was
>bad enough. . . .

What caught my eye is that one (or the other) may go into the foam to
grope (or be groped), but goes into "another section" to hook up.

Presumably "touch" = "grope."  Does the foam hide the act?
And thus "hooking up" must be the (a) next stage after "touching" --
in my youth, the stages were called "bases".  (Note: This context
seems to provide a fine discrimination for its meaning of "hook
up.")  So must the "other section" provide even more invisibility?

For reference, I repeat the original text:

>" I visit my cousins in England every summer ... On my last night
>there [somewhere in England, last summer], we went to a club where
>foam was coming out of vents, and we all went into the foam and
>danced. He [the subject's cousin's boyfriend's best friend] started
>touching me, and we went to another section and hooked up. Then he
>said, 'Can this be our little secret?' I asked why, and he said,
>'Well, because I have a girlfriend.' "

Joel

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org