Face-making

The Atlantic has a nice list up of 19th century British slang for "sex."  Here are the best ones:

• Amorous congress: 
To say two people were engaged in the amorous congress was by far the most polite option on the list, oftentimes serving as the definition for other, less discreet synonyms.

• Basket-making: 
"Those two recently opened a basket-making shop." From a method of making children's stockings, in which knitting the heel is called basket-making .

• Bread and butter: 
One on top of the other. "Rumor has it he found her bread and butter fashion with the neighbor."

• Face-making: 

Aside from the obvious, this also comes from "making children," because babies have faces.

• Blanket hornpipe: 

• Green gown: 
Giving a girl a green gown can only happen in the grass.

• Lobster kettle: 
A woman who sleeps with soldiers coming in at port is said to "make a lobster kettle" of herself.

Ducky

Be sly: Donald Duck did double-duty as a propagandist during WWII.


From MoJo's collection of VD-related propaganda of WWII, "Enemy in Your Pants."

Change in Cuba?

A killer link from my co-conspirator, KDS. Maybe this is why the US is mobilizing its long-inoperative Latin American naval fleet:

Cubans to get free sex changes

The Cuban Government has approved 28 sex-change operations and says it will perform them free of charge.

Cuba's sex education centre is run by President Raul Castro's daughter Mariela Castro and for many years she has pressed the Government to offer free sex-change treatment for transsexuals.

The health ministry has decided it is time to oblige.

Ms Castro says a Cuban team has been training with Belgian surgeons to prepare for the operations.

The decision marks a contrast with previous official policy on gender issues.

According to Ms Castro, a sex-change operation did take place in Cuba in 1988, but she says there was so much opposition to it that the health ministry cancelled plans to do others.

Via ABC News.