# Are you aware of the used of the term "balling" to mean having sex? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 18, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539 "2013-10-18T01:20:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/61 "2013-10-18T22:18:32Z")
I’m 32, the only time I’ve ever heard “balling” to refer to sex was in _The People vs Larry Flynt_. The most common use of it I’ve heard in the last 20 years has been someone who’s good at basketball. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/62 "2013-10-18T22:42:47Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Anyone in this thread who thinks these high school kids have any idea that balling means having sex are almost assuredly wrong. Being a former high school teacher myself, I can confirm that the meaning has completely changed since you were kids, and this teacher is not the subject of a prank or something funny. I don’t like rap and haven’t actively listened to it in years, but I’ve still heard rappers use it a million times to mean the first Urban Dictionary definition “To be exceedingly fly, hip, deck, cool, what have you.” I could certainly believe that it has pushed out the sexual meaning for the younger generation. I think “pimp” is going the same route, it often just means “cool” now, or perhaps “with style”. In ten years they’ll be making her a shirt that says “Pimpin’ her way to the top” and the kids will think we’re crazy for finding it inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![WilyQuixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@WilyQuixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilyQuixote)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/63 "2013-10-18T23:12:24Z")
Vaguely aware of its sexual connotations, (wm, 33) but not a term I would use and does sound a bit dated. I would associate it with sex rather then sport, but sex is the closest I get to sport so… ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/64 "2013-10-18T23:50:35Z")
It was popular in the 80’s or so, not so much since. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/65 "2013-10-18T23:59:48Z")
I guess I’m old because I think of sex and Little Richard. While I am surprised that today’s youth don’t know that meaning I shouldn’t be. After all, rock and roll is no longer considered a euphamism for sex. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/66 "2013-10-19T00:31:20Z")
The sexual meaning was very common when I was a teenager, but I haven’t heard it used that way in two-three decades. Not surprised a young teacher wouldnt know it, and certainly the kids wouldn’t. It’s the grandparents more likely to raise eyebrows than the parents. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/67 "2013-10-19T01:56:05Z")
I’m 32, and while I don’t think anyone my age would (unironically) use “balling” to mean “sex” I am surprised that several people around my age have said they’ve never heard this usage before. It’s _dated_, but I wouldn’t consider it particularly obscure…at least among adults. That teenagers would be unfamiliar with this usage I could believe, although it would surprise me very much if no one in the class had snickered over the fact that “ball” can be used to mean “testicle”. FWIW I just checked the OED and the most recent quote they have listed for “balling” in the sexual sense is from the 1997 novel _The House of Sleep_. So that’s when I was a teenager but before many of today’s high school students were even born. As for “Good Golly Miss Molly”, according to the OED “balling” was used to mean participating in a ball (as in a dance) through the 19th century\* and to enjoy oneself or “have a ball” into the mid-20th century. While the term was being used in a sexual manner by the time “Good Golly Miss Molly” was recorded and Little Richard presumably knew this, when he sang “You sure like to ball” this was probably taken by many listeners (especially older people) to mean that Miss Molly liked to dance or have fun. \*From the 1688 play _A Fool’s Preferment_: “Sir, I hope you’ll stay till the next Ball be past however. / Not I: I have been Balling on’t too long,…wasting all my Substance.” Or maybe that one _is_ about sex. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/68 "2013-10-19T02:04:15Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > The most common use of it I’ve heard in the last 20 years has been someone who’s good at basketball. And from that it went to mean someone who is kicking ass at something. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/69 "2013-10-19T02:08:20Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > As for “Good Golly Miss Molly”, according to the OED “balling” was used to mean participating in a ball (as in a dance) through the 19th century\* and to enjoy oneself or “have a ball” into the mid-20th century. While the term was being used in a sexual manner by the time “Good Golly Miss Molly” was recorded and Little Richard presumably knew this, when he sang “You sure like to ball” this was probably taken by many listeners (especially older people) to mean that Miss Molly liked to dance or have fun. Obviously. That’s how he was able to get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/70 "2013-10-19T02:19:34Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Obviously. That’s how he was able to get away with it. Yes, that’s what I just said. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/71 "2013-10-19T03:17:57Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > rocking and rolling (although that may once have meant having sex, too). > [@Lamia](#): > > when he sang “You sure like to ball” this was probably taken by many listeners (especially older people) to mean that Miss Molly liked to dance or have fun. Yes, since the term “rock and roll” apparently originated from early 1900s African American slang for having sex, I think that Little Richard was aware of the sexual implications but trying to avoid being too explicit for the culture at the time. Anyway, to answer the poll, I was aware of the term “balling” as having sex in additon to being aware of the more recent use of the term to mean something is cool. I don’t recall where I first learned of it, but I know I had heard of its use in songs like this and the Led Zeppelin song. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/72 "2013-10-19T03:33:00Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > I know its sexual connotation from a dirty book that was smuggled in to my junior high school and passed around, which was titled “Balling Babysitter”. This was in '82ish? (Search Fu on, once safely away from work computer) Evidently it made an impression:D: “Balling Babysitter” - John Kellerman, Author; Diary Novels (1980), Greenleaf Classics Inc. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/73 "2013-10-19T03:40:48Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > (Search Fu on, once safely away from work computer) > Evidently it made an impression:D: > > “Balling Babysitter” - John Kellerman, Author; Diary Novels (1980), Greenleaf Classics Inc. It very much did. All the girls were giggling about it. Not my first encounter with dirty books (that honor goes to my mom’s copy of Delta of Venus), but my first encounter with flat out porn of a verbal nature. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/74 "2013-10-19T11:08:58Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Zappa fans know it: Suzy Creamcheese starts off the song _Absolutely Free_ (from the album _We’re Only In It For The Money_) by proclaiming “I don’t do publicity balling for you anymore.” Yea, this is the first thing I thought of after reading the OP. OT, but I swear I have that whole damn album memorized. After reading your post, I instantly heard, “The first word in this song is ‘discorporate.’ It means to leave your body” in my head. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/75 "2013-10-19T11:22:48Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > This fits better with the rocking and rolling (although that may once have meant having sex, too). It did indeed, as did “jazz” and “jelly roll.” ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/76 "2013-10-19T13:41:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It did indeed, as did “jazz” and “jelly roll.” Jelly roll meant vulva. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/77 "2013-10-19T14:05:03Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Jelly roll meant vulva. I won’t disagree with you, but in _ **Look Homeward, Angel** _, the protagonist ends up on “the wrong side of the tracks” one night, and a young lady there offers him “Jel-ly roll, jel-ly roll!” In that context, it’s pretty clear that “jelly roll” is a synonym for sex, the same way someone might be offered “pussy” today. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/78 "2013-10-19T14:14:55Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I won’t disagree with you, but in _ **Look Homeward, Angel** _, the protagonist ends up on “the wrong side of the tracks” one night, and a young lady there offers him “Jel-ly roll, jel-ly roll!” > > In that context, it’s pretty clear that “jelly roll” is a synonym for sex, the same way someone might be offered “pussy” today. Pussy also means vulva. Offering that, of course, is the same as offering sex but both words are slang for female genitals and not the act itself. She wouldn’t say “lick my sex” but the other two words would fit there. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/79 "2013-10-19T16:13:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Nope, never heard of it, not even as a quaint thing that old people say. To me, balling means playing a ball-based sport or being extremely cool. I’m a 28-year-old straight white male, if that matters. Other than being 35, this. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539/80 "2013-10-19T17:27:52Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > It very much did. All the girls were giggling about it. Not my first encounter with dirty books (that honor goes to my mom’s copy of Delta of Venus), but my first encounter with flat out porn of a verbal nature. Back before the internet, all porn was on paper. There were still pics, and books you read to see porn in your mind. Kids today have no idea what a hardship it was. But they’ll never find a box of Playboy magazines abandoned in a lot either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-aware-of-the-used-of-the-term-balling-to-mean-having-sex/671539.md?page=5)