How to Say ‘Orgasm’ in 27 Different Languages
December 27, 2017 4:53 AM Subscribe
It is not often that one comes across a human sexuality paper with a Biblical reference in the title, but lo, “Behold, I am Coming Soon! A Study on the Conceptualization of Sexual Orgasm in 27 Languages” does just that.
Published in the Journal of Metaphor and Symbol, the study examined linguistic expressions of orgasm in native speakers of languages representing over half of the world’s population. Their work included an investigation of words and phrases we use to describe one of our favorite biological pastimes.
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posted by Emmy Noether at 5:54 AM on December 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Emmy Noether at 5:54 AM on December 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
This is completely fascinating. They look at the way people describe themselves having an orgasm in different languages, and note that some say, "I'm coming", while some others use, "I'm going" and still others describe it as, "I'm ending/finishing."
"I'm coming": Orgasm as mutual activity.
"I'm going": Orgasm as death or a loss of control.
Then there's this:
Also, is Farsi a very literal language? They describe an orgasm as erza shodan (“satisfaction is happening”).
posted by zarq at 7:14 AM on December 27, 2017 [8 favorites]
"I'm coming": Orgasm as mutual activity.
"I'm going": Orgasm as death or a loss of control.
According to the Japanese speakers in the data, the usage of iku (“(I’m) going”) in Japanese actually implies death and the process of ascending to heaven."I'm ending/finishing": Orgasm as an ending. "I'm done." Feels like a male construction: no multiple orgasms in those cultures.
Then there's this:
In Czech, speakers would say Už budu (“(I) will be”) before having an orgasm. Although it is hard to pinpoint the answer as to what the speaker will “be” only from analyzing this expression, further interviews with the speakers actually provided an interesting prospect to this question. As pointed out by the Czech interviewees, this concept is fairly similar to Rene Descartes’ famous line “I think, therefore, I am.” Just as Descartes’ “I am” is commonly understood as “I exist,” Czech speakers may also conceptualize an orgasmic experience as the process of “being,” “existing,” and even the state of being “alive.”Orgasm as confirmation of being, life, existence.
Also, is Farsi a very literal language? They describe an orgasm as erza shodan (“satisfaction is happening”).
posted by zarq at 7:14 AM on December 27, 2017 [8 favorites]
Some examples include pracanda uttējanā (Bengali, “drastic excitement”), ezra shodan (Persian (Farsi), “satisfaction is happening”)
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:17 AM on December 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:17 AM on December 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
That could give rise to some pretty cutting comments, though:
"Satisfaction is happening!"
"Pfft. Where?"
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:18 AM on December 27, 2017 [11 favorites]
"Satisfaction is happening!"
"Pfft. Where?"
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:18 AM on December 27, 2017 [11 favorites]
A phrase one doesn't see in a peer-reviewed scientific journal every day: "We took a trip to Pound Town."
posted by zarq at 7:37 AM on December 27, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by zarq at 7:37 AM on December 27, 2017 [8 favorites]
I presume the submissives were "coming for the lord".
posted by adamvasco at 8:05 AM on December 27, 2017
posted by adamvasco at 8:05 AM on December 27, 2017
Perhaps our linguistic experts will weigh in on this, but it seems to me the methodology — they interviewed only one or two native speakers of each of the 27 languages; most of those were exchange students or foreign workers in Taiwan, between 20 and 35 years old. They had to be bilingual, speaking either English or Mandarin Chinese in addition to their native language, and interviews were conducted in one of those two languages. In other words, some of the interviews involved translating twice, once as the native speaker described the terminology in Mandarin, and then translating that to English. There was no survey of multiple speakers to get some deeper perspective — the study relies on whatever one or two non-experts on their language or sexuality happened to know and remember during the interviews about these terms.
posted by beagle at 9:01 AM on December 27, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by beagle at 9:01 AM on December 27, 2017 [7 favorites]
There was no survey of multiple speakers to get some deeper perspective — the study relies on whatever one or two non-experts on their language or sexuality happened to know and remember during the interviews about these terms.
Just to corroborate, languages vary between speakers.
For example, the authors' table lists the Spanish metaphor as estoy llegando / "I'm arriving". Spaniards (or at least some Spaniards) use me corro. The verb correr means "to run" with legs and stuff, but also what water does (a river runs) and what the wind does (in English the wind blows, in Spanish it can also "run").
The awkward-in-English "I run myself" doesn't make the paper as a metaphor for orgasm, since that's not what their respondent would say. But it's still a valid metaphor.
posted by migrantology at 9:35 AM on December 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
Just to corroborate, languages vary between speakers.
For example, the authors' table lists the Spanish metaphor as estoy llegando / "I'm arriving". Spaniards (or at least some Spaniards) use me corro. The verb correr means "to run" with legs and stuff, but also what water does (a river runs) and what the wind does (in English the wind blows, in Spanish it can also "run").
The awkward-in-English "I run myself" doesn't make the paper as a metaphor for orgasm, since that's not what their respondent would say. But it's still a valid metaphor.
posted by migrantology at 9:35 AM on December 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
Their Finnish interpretation is amusing (and totally wrong):
Take the announcement for orgasm in Finnish nyt mä tulen (“now I’m (the) fire”) in our data as an example.
'mä tulen' literally means 'I'm coming', in the same way as English. 'Tulen' is the conjugation of 'tulla' (to become, come). It has nothing to do with fire. 'Tulen' is also coincidentally the possessive form of fire ('tuli'), but it doesn't make any grammatical sense to say 'now I [fire's]'.
I suspect this misunderstanding came from plugging the words individually into google translate (where it does say that 'tulen' = 'fire' for some reason), but that's an especially dangerous thing to do with a heavily conjugated language like Finnish where completely unrelated words often have hash collisions through conjugations.
posted by Pyry at 9:41 AM on December 27, 2017 [19 favorites]
Take the announcement for orgasm in Finnish nyt mä tulen (“now I’m (the) fire”) in our data as an example.
'mä tulen' literally means 'I'm coming', in the same way as English. 'Tulen' is the conjugation of 'tulla' (to become, come). It has nothing to do with fire. 'Tulen' is also coincidentally the possessive form of fire ('tuli'), but it doesn't make any grammatical sense to say 'now I [fire's]'.
I suspect this misunderstanding came from plugging the words individually into google translate (where it does say that 'tulen' = 'fire' for some reason), but that's an especially dangerous thing to do with a heavily conjugated language like Finnish where completely unrelated words often have hash collisions through conjugations.
posted by Pyry at 9:41 AM on December 27, 2017 [19 favorites]
'Tulen' is also coincidentally the possessive form of fire ('tuli'), but it doesn't make any grammatical sense to say 'now I [fire's]'.
A lack of penicillin would explain that burning sensation.
posted by zarq at 9:45 AM on December 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
A lack of penicillin would explain that burning sensation.
posted by zarq at 9:45 AM on December 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
I just start singing "I Hanker for a Hunk o' Cheese"
posted by middleclasstool at 10:28 AM on December 27, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by middleclasstool at 10:28 AM on December 27, 2017 [6 favorites]
So Jesus was ashamed of the size of his penis?
He was, until Judas had a look in the men's room after lunch at Michaud's and assured Him it was perfectly fine.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:24 AM on December 27, 2017
He was, until Judas had a look in the men's room after lunch at Michaud's and assured Him it was perfectly fine.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:24 AM on December 27, 2017
that's an especially dangerous thing to do with a heavily conjugated language like Finnish where completely unrelated words often have hash collisions through conjugations.
Proof.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 11:57 AM on December 27, 2017 [5 favorites]
Proof.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 11:57 AM on December 27, 2017 [5 favorites]
In church during Advent, they select a parishioner (sometimes one person, other times a couple) to light a candle on the wreath and read the traditional verses for the occasion, one of which includes "Advent means 'coming'." I hate being picked to read because I have no poker face whatsoever and I am sure the entire congregation is aware of my struggle not to snort and laugh like a 12 year old when saying this bit.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 1:19 AM on December 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 1:19 AM on December 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
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Also on the biblical tip is my favorite hymn to belt out, "I Come with Joy".
And also with you: "Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed." Which, I'm not sure if Jesus understood how stealing things works.
posted by middleclasstool at 5:19 AM on December 27, 2017 [5 favorites]