: Re: How to talk about certain anatomy without sounding vulgar or cowardly? Let's talk about butts, because butts are safe, but really this question is for other parts of the anatomy as well. There

I recommend the Power Thesaurus, which is pretty comprehensive and crowd-voted (like this site). An example here is for vagina.

I would say pick median word, or a word that is clear without being pejorative or clinical.

You may also use less vague indirect terms: A penis can be referred to as an erection, for example, or a shaft.

Another indirection is in the common marriage vow, they use the words "cleave only unto him", "cleaving" refers to the separation of vaginal labia [lips] by a penis; so the vow uses a verb that applies to sexual intercourse without referring to the organs involved.

If that fails for you, then without research of my own, I am told by my sister that modern romance novels get pretty explicit in the sex department.

Although my characters frequently have sex, I don't write explicit sex scenes. I turn the camera away before genitalia appear. However, if I felt an explicit scene was necessary, say if a main character was raped, date-raped or being sexually harassed or coerced at work, THEN I would probably look online or in a used bookstore for examples of what is acceptable in the modern romance department.

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: How to make a deceitful trainwreck of a character likeable So, due to a smaller miracle, a scrapped concept, a badly timed Eragon review from Nostalgia Critic and the SAO abridged came together

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: The Good, the Bad, and the Semicolon I completed my novel and an editor friend graciously offered to assist me with formatting. As a former scientist, I am more familiar with technical or academic

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: Using two-syllable words Is it ever okay to use two-syllable words as unstressed in a rhyme or poem? e.g. In this sentence using "pigeon" as two unstressed syllables: The Å›mall pigeon rÃ¡n

: Re: How to talk about certain anatomy without sounding vulgar or cowardly? Let's talk about butts, because butts are safe, but really this question is for other parts of the anatomy as well. There

More posts by @Welton431

: How to make a deceitful trainwreck of a character likeable So, due to a smaller miracle, a scrapped concept, a badly timed Eragon review from Nostalgia Critic and the SAO abridged came together

: The Good, the Bad, and the Semicolon I completed my novel and an editor friend graciously offered to assist me with formatting. As a former scientist, I am more familiar with technical or academic

: In first person narrative, is it acceptable to end rhetorical questions with a period? In first person narrative, would it be acceptable to use a period in place of a question mark when the

: Using two-syllable words Is it ever okay to use two-syllable words as unstressed in a rhyme or poem? e.g. In this sentence using "pigeon" as two unstressed syllables: The Å›mall pigeon rÃ¡n

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