It took me a while to realise that in that context, blow-jobs are usually seen as "normal, heavy petting", whereas penetrative sex is usually classed as "whoring" regardless of whether anyone actually paid for it. The sense of ' petting ' meaning "to stroke" is first found 1818. Slang sense of "kiss and caress" is from 1920 (implied in petting, in F.

Understanding the Context

Scott Fitzgerald). The common-sense trajectory seems to be the use of the word in relation to domestic animals, then children, then adults affectionately, then romantically. See 'petting parties' here. etymology - How did the words "petting" and "necking" come to mean ...

Key Insights

What you are describing is "petting." Although, petting is usually done to animals. It may be insulting in some cultures to do it to people. Some asian cultures might find it disrespectful as this article explains. According to Merriam-Webster, definition 1 (b) of the verb "pet" is "to stroke in a gentle or loving manner." The word "pet" has a few different definitions (my own paraphrase): n: An animal kept for companionship. v: To affectionately caress.

Final Thoughts

My question is, which of these usages originated first? Do we refer to companion animals as "pets" because we pet them? Or is the act of "petting" so dubbed because it is what we do to pets? I had always assumed that "back biting" referred to when, say, a dog who was being petted twisted around and bit the hand doing the petting. 2) The idiomatic expression " a bit of slap and tickle " meaning amorous frolicking, with kissing, petting etc. is said to have existed since 1910 in the Shorter Slang Dictionary by Paul Beale, and Eric Partridge.

The word slap mimics the sound of flesh on flesh, or the sound of heavy breasts slapping together.