Why do people use baseball terms to talk about sex?

In American slang, terms from the game of baseball are frequently used as euphemisms and metaphors to describe degrees of physical intimacy. This metaphorical system, which maps sexual activities onto actions like advancing around bases, became widely prevalent after World War II. The collection of baseball-derived idioms is so extensive that it forms a distinct category separate from general sports slang.

What we know

• American slang uses various baseball terms as metaphors and euphemisms for sex. [2]
• The common sexual metaphor describes the degree of physical intimacy achieved using actions in a baseball game. [2]
• This specific sexual metaphor became prevalent primarily in the aftermath of World War II. [2] · medium confidence
• Baseball has also provided the context for other metaphors concerning sexual roles and identity. [2] · medium confidence
• The body of English idioms derived exclusively from baseball is large enough to warrant dedicated glossaries separate from general sports idioms. [3, 4]

Where to go next

• a case in pointWhat are common English idioms derived from baseball?
• the bigger pictureHow do other sports influence everyday English idioms?
• whenHow did the sport of baseball develop historically?
• how it workedWhat are the core rules and terms used in actual baseball games?
• how we knowHow does language reflect cultural values in sports metaphors?
• an unexpected connectionHow sports idioms shape political discoursePhrases originating from sports like baseball become deeply embedded linguocultural realia that frequently appear in news and political communication.

Sources

• [1]Baseball metaphors for sex (Wikidata Q340113) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Baseball metaphors for sex · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Glossary of English-language idioms derived from baseball · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]List of sports idioms · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Baseball · CC BY-SA 4.0