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Beast with two backs

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Making the beast with two backs is a euphemistic metaphor for two persons engaged in sexual intercourse. It refers to the situation in which a couple – in the missionary position or standing – cling to each other as if a single creature, with their backs to the outside.

In English, the expression dates back to at least William Shakespeare's Othello (Act 1, Scene 1):

I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.

The equivalent phrase in Template:Lang-fr, appears in Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel, circa 1532. This was translated into English by Thomas Urquhart and published posthumously around 1693:

In the vigour of his age he married Gargamelle, daughter to the King of the Parpaillons, a jolly pug, and well-mouthed wench. These two did oftentimes do the two-backed beast together, joyfully rubbing and frotting their bacon 'gainst one another.[1]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to missionary positions.

References

  1. ^ http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/58450.html
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