Thread: I need to find the right phrase...

So I am writing a romantic scene (only PG-13) in which my main two characters are making out and feeling each other up a little bit. I need a phrase or term to call what they are doing that doesn't sound preschool and evokes emotion in the reader. Any ideas forum?

Maybe a phrase is not what you need. Perhaps its best just to describe their actions: He ran his hand over her sides, getting closer to her breast, or She felt his muscles tightening against her etc...

I don't know if there is a phrase. Most English ones would probably invoke smirks such as: fondle. Or maybe you could say they just got cuddly together.

Frotting would be an English colloquialism for what Americans call making out; another might be snogging, which mainly involves kissing on the girl's part and both kissing, and attempting to go farther than the girl is prepared to go, on the boy's. Petting is the farther the boy is aiming for, that rite of passage that all boys have to accomplish - Hence the admonishment on the walls around swimming pools "No running, no bombing, no petting..." Heavy petting is, of course, an adolescent boy's nirvana; the hand inside the cup of the Wonderbra.

Originally Posted by Bloggsworth

Frotting would be an English colloquialism for what Americans call making out; another might be snogging, which mainly involves kissing on the girl's part and both kissing, and attempting to go farther than the girl is prepared to go, on the boy's. Petting is the farther the boy is aiming for, that rite of passage that all boys have to accomplish - Hence the admonishment on the walls around swimming pools "No running, no bombing, no petting..." Heavy petting is, of course, an adolescent boy's nirvana; the hand inside the cup of the Wonderbra.

Either you're somewhat older than me, or we frequent very different swimming pools. Do signs really say that?

In addition...frotting? That's an excellent word.


Something like 'Fooling around' or some other American term could help dampen the intensity of what's happening. It doesn't have to be aggressive or seedy, just a boy and a girl doing what they do.

Heavy petting or making out would be (once were) my choices. Frotting and snogging make me giggle...the words do, the words.

Frottsnoggling!

Seriously though, it depends on how you want to handle the scene.

Are you discussing it in passing, as mentioning it as a minor part in a larger story? Or are you taking the reader into the room with the two Main Characters, and giving the reader the full-access pass to the show?

If it's the former, you can simply say "they held each other, and kissed" and be done with it. I'm assuming, though, that since you're asking about the best word choices, you're likely taking the latter route. In that case I agree with the others who said to simply describe the actions.

A phrase or term is not as emotional nor evocative as showing the actual moment, blow by blow.

Mr. Kyle I think you win. Too bad I can't use that.

Snogging is a term that's still popular amongst young people, I certainly used it when I was in my pre-teens. Frotting...well, I can't say that I've ever heard of that. But if you're going for something very English and you're looking to use the language of the characters in question, snogging is the best way to go.

So, I had the moment blow by blow and I am trying to refer to it at the end.

Orphan--I agree with Robdemanc. If it's a full-blown intimate scene as opposed to passing "aside," if you will (ex. "after we fooled around we went home"), then I think it's best to find a way to describe the action in the scene in way that's in line with the writing style of the rest of the story.

If you are referring to at the end of the scene it makes a difference what perspective the reference is from
- from the girl: When we were together it was so thrilling! He was passionate and yet sensitive to my wants.
- from the boy: The smell of her, the taste of her - I wanted to take her right then
- from the narrator: Their limbs entwined until they were almost as close as it is possible for a man and woman to be

Exploring? Blindly memorizing one another's every physical detail? Something of that nature?

I also think that it depends largely on who the narration is coming from.