Erotic slang words from around the English-speaking world number well into the tens of thousands, but the history of terms used to describe gay sexual activities comes from violently opposing sources: one, the discreet network of gays and lesbian who created terms for their modes of sexual practice; the other, those who found homosexuality disgusting and created phrases to denigrate its proponents. The result, a coded language, for better or worse, that celebrates sexuality in all its queerness.