Where Did the Baseball Metaphor for Sex Come From?

"Oh Em Gee! What did you and Connor do last night?"

"I let him get to second base!"

"No way!"


"Yes way!"

Confess: how many of your teenage conversations went this way? We're all familiar with the sexual baseball metaphor; it's almost as American as the sport itself! But in case you forgot (blasphemy), here's a recap:

1st Base

Kissing, plus any touching above the belt.

2nd Base

Any action (be it awesome or lackluster) around the naughty bits.

3rd Base

Oral lovin'

Home base

"Going all the way." Aka, you have sex. Parameters include anal sex, toy usage and other mutually satisfying activities.

The History

You know we're suckers for history here at Ravishly, so naturally, we had to dig. Here's what we found:

Back in the 1920s, silent film star Buster Keaton's love of baseball influenced much of his comedic direction. Rumor has it he even had a pseudo baseball field built while on the road. Because of his humorous approach, audiences started equating the game with other relatable topics.

Soon, baseball was used to describe politics. During World War II, writers used the rules of the sport to explain the intricacies of war. Why? The idea was simple: war and politics are confusing, but everyone understands baseball! Around the same time, people applied the same logic to sex. Rumor has it that a popular ladies magazine was the first to tie the two together explicitly.

Today

Despite the passage of time, this idea has endured in middle schools everywhere. Best yet, the old-as-time baseball metaphor is applicable to hetero and homosexual fun times. So hey, if baseball doesn't judge—neither should we.

Image: ThinkStock

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