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Q: Year that "do" as slang for sex entered English ( Answered,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Year that "do" as slang for sex entered English
Category: Reference, Education and News > General Reference
Asked by: acryl-ga
List Price: $5.00
Posted: 21 Aug 2004 20:05 PDT
Expires: 20 Sep 2004 20:05 PDT
Question ID: 390951
I am trying to find out the year when "do" as slang for sexual intercourse came
into English. Any help?

Request for Question Clarification by juggler-ga on 21 Aug 2004 20:41 PDT
I'm not sure if it will be possible to pinpoint a particular year. 
According to a well-known reference book, "doing" has been slang for
copulation since at least the 1600s.  The reference book identifies
eight or so published sources (17th-20th centuries) that include that
use of "do" or "doing" in this sense.  I could provide you with a list
of those sources if you're interested.  Let me know.

Clarification of Question by acryl-ga on 21 Aug 2004 21:36 PDT
Exact year not needed. Main desire was to determine approximate time.
1600's is definite enough. Would appreciate receiving the list of
sources and perhaps an old example (pre-20th century). Thank you.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Year that "do" as slang for sex entered English
Answered By: juggler-ga on 21 Aug 2004 22:03 PDT
 
Hello.

I have access to the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary
through my local public library.

As I mentioned above, both "do" and "doing" are cited as euphemisms for copulation.

Here are the sources cited:

doing - copulation
1601 SHAKES. All's Well II. iii. 246. 
1637 B. JONSON tr. Fragm. Petron. Arbiter Wks. (Rtldg.) 740. 
1675 COTTON Scoffer Scoft 117. 1869 HAZLITT Eng. Prov. 105.

do - copulation
1913 D. H. LAWRENCE Sons & Lovers II. vii. 162 Do you think we spoon
and do? We only talk.
1922 JOYCE Ulysses 724 Not that I care two straws who he does it with. 
1954 R. P. BISSELL High Water xvii. 181 Them island girls they'd
rather do it than eat.
1959 A. SINCLAIR Breaking of Bumbo II. x. 106 You don't do her? And
you eat in Chelsea? There's something queer about you.
1967 V. CANNING Python Project viii. 157 Some service-man..did your
mother in Cyprus..and then..made an honest woman of her.

source: Oxford English Dictionary: do, doing

Here's a little more detail on some of those citations:

Shakespeare's line in "All's Well that End Well" (Act II, Scene III)
apparently is: "...for doing I am past..."
http://pd.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/allswell/section7.html

The Ben Jonson citation apparently refers to this poem:
"Doing, a filthy pleasure is, and short;
And done, we straight repent us of the sport:"
http://members.aol.com/vlp514/doing.html

The phrase "does it" appears in James Joyce's Ulysses (1922):
"Not that I care two straws who he does it with."
http://www.kulichki.com/moshkow/DVOJS/ulysses.txt_Piece40.43

The phrase "do her" appears in "The Breaking of Bumbo" (1959) by Andrew Sinclair. 
"You don't do her? And you eat in Chelsea? There's something queer about you."
The book is available from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0571134602/

---------
seach strategy:
oxford english dictionary: do, doing

I hope this helps.
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