I just finished reading Lora Leigh’s, The Cowboy and The Captive (damn I love that book!) and it got me thinking about the word ‘seed’. You know, as in:
“his seed erupted from the tip in hard, jetting pulses”
Lora, and many other erotic romance authors use the word ‘seed’ a lot. I guess that’s because once you’ve exhausted semen, there’s not a lot of choice.
Here are some of the ones that I’ve come across in recent times:
Hot cream – I’ve never understood the use of the word cream. I like cream, but as much as I love him, The Tall Guy’s semen doesn’t remind me of cream, if it did, I’d go down on him more often. You could say it bore more of a resemblance to custard. Cold white custard that happens to smell of bleach. Sorry, I digress….
Come /cum – Authors seem to try and refrain from using this one too often, but at least most people can relate to it. I think the spelling of it totally changes the overall feel of the book. ‘Come’ is generally quite nice and acceptable, whereas ‘cum’ just takes it down to a gutter level. I happen to like that gutter level a lot.
Jism/Gism – Yes there are erotic romance books out there that insist on using this yucky word. Talk about a passion killer.
Release – Totally inoffensive, which is probably why it’s so popular within Silhouette and other category romance books. Mills and Boon Tender Romance have a way of de-sexualising it though, mind you, have you read one lately? Gives a whole other meaning to the phrase ‘Drier than a nun’s c*nt’.
Seminal fluid – I don’t like this one much. It sounds about as sexy as antiseptic.
I wonder what other unusual substitutions for the word semen, there is out there?
Also, I wonder if any of the words particularly jar you, or perhaps make you feel uncomfortable?
Anonymous
November 16
1:24 pm
Lol, Juice is one of the words that I hate most in relation to bodily fluids. It’s just so wrong on so many levels!
Desiree Erotique
November 16
1:53 pm
Used sparingly, most terms do not bother me.. except that “seminal fluid”, and that just chills the entire scenario.
I think the worst term of it I ever came across was “his love lava”, followed closely by “man spit”. Good grief!!
Dawn
November 16
2:46 pm
Karen, I’m with you rolling around in the gutter. LOL
Seminal fluid makes me feel like I’m watching CSI. Jism… blech. Juice – I don’t think so, unless he’s been overdosing on the old pineapple juice beforehand.
Love lava and man spit – ROFL. I don’t think I could continue to read a book with a straight face if I saw either of those.
Eve Vaughn
November 16
2:59 pm
LOL!! I think I may be guilty of using all those terms, except for seminal fluids, even I have standards *g* How about dick juice, milky flow, love juice, spooge, cock cream, burning eruption, hunk a hunk a burning love, love sauce, ice cream dream… well you get the picture.
Eve Vaughn
November 16
6:03 pm
I forgot to mention, spunk and pimp juice. Okay, I think I’m finished now. LOL
Karen Scott
November 16
6:11 pm
OK, now spunk is just too much!!!
Rocio
November 16
6:55 pm
LOL!!! For me they are just funny ways to learn kinky not in the dictionary words in English.
I think you guys use harsh words more commonly thatn we do here, because I’m always surprise of the rude language I found in “romantic” scenes in books.
Desiree Erotique
November 16
9:48 pm
ROTFLOL Eve!!
“Spooge”? Wasn’t he the eighth dwarf- the one Snow White didn’t like to talk about?
Ann Wesley Hardin
November 16
10:17 pm
Karen, I actually like spunk. Heh heh. Say it with me folks, Spunky!but I also like twat and snatch. If we can reclaim cunt and make it a sexy term, why not twat?
Quim has been making the rounds. You’ll probably see it soon.
Anonymous
November 17
1:11 am
I’ve actually heard someone say “man pudding”. EWWW.
Sam
November 17
7:03 am
I’m still stuck on the love lava,
LOLOL!
I usually like come more than cum, but the first is usually a verb and the last is a noun, and sometimes if you use come too much it will get confusing.
ReneeW
November 17
7:53 am
I saw the word spunk in Lisa Valdez’ book ‘Passion’ and I had to look it up in the dictionary ‘cuz I’d never heard it or read it before. I’m such an innocent 🙂 Reading is so educational, don’t you think?
Karen Scott
November 17
8:13 am
Renee, Spunk is just the worst, it’s along the lines of jism. Yuck!
However, Love Lava is just the kind of phrase I’d expect to read in a Diana Laurence book. Shit, that woman’s writing is suspect.
Milady Insanity
November 17
6:14 pm
This is just too funny! LOL.
It kinda reminds me of that excerpt of I Am Charlotte Simmons where the word “otolaryngological” somehow comes into play in a sex scene.
Diana Laurence
June 23
6:28 pm
Just ran into this exchange, Karen et al. Man, there are some horrible euphemisms out there! Anyway, for the record, there is no way in HELL I would ever use the term “love lava.” Seed or semen, that’s it. Not very creative, but the moment of ejaculation is not when you want your reader to be distracted by his/her own laughter. On the other hand, my husband and I do use “spooge” as an all purpose term for goo, including the stuff you find in Twinkies. It’s just a weird quirk of our household…
Karen Scott
June 24
5:24 pm
Hey, aren’t you the Diana Laurence who complained about erotic romance?
Diana Laurence
June 27
1:37 am
I’m the Diana Laurence who writes the monthly column for http://www.novelspot.com, yes, the very one who got herself in all that hot water a year ago. And like you so eloquently said in your entry today, “Some people think I suck great big donkey balls, some people think I’m ok.” Happily, in May I spoke at the Romantic Times convention on the erotica panel and no one threw any tomatoes at me! LOL Actually, I haven’t heard a peep about the whole mess in a year. Which is fine with me, because regardless of conclusions to the contrary, I love the genre, adore the readers, and the authors are great people too.
Anyway, I really liked this exchange on semen, seed et al., Karen. And I think it’s great that you speak your mind plainly on your blog. Honesty is the best policy–even if sometimes we end up paying for it a bit! LOL
P.S., love the football team too.
Anonymous
January 5
11:21 pm
You should probably start taking some volume pills and decide for yourself. Easy research.
A spunk-spitting gutter slut
February 27
1:48 pm
You totally forgot ‘Baby Batter’, ‘Jizz’, ‘Love Lotion’, ‘Special Sauce’ and ‘Man Milk’!
Anonymous
November 9
10:30 am
What about Man Jam? I don’t like it when they call it ejaculate…