I’m glad to see so many people here using the term “pitching woo.” That’s exactly the term I substitute in my head when I read “making love” in an old book.
Though I hate to admit it, people are in some ways right when they talk about coarsening the language. So many once innocent terms now get sniggered at because they’ve taken on connotations of sex or drugs that would have baffled people 100 years ago.
It’s Gresham’s Law applied to language.
The “bad” drives out the “good”.
The upside is that, today, women have no problem telling their doctors the difference between appendicitis and an ovarian cyst.
That’s hysterical. 
And on other woo fronts, no actual sex is involved*:
* I’ve never seen the film, but from the wiki plot summary, I don’t even know how the title fits either definition
Oh Gawd, no! She’s saying something like, “He’s down on his knees saying how he’ll love me forever and ever,” but expecting that her mother will understand that of course he isn’t really doing that, because it would be rude, but hoping that her little joke will get George out of his grumpy mood.
If the Hays Office thought for a moment that she means what you’re thinking, the movie would never have been released.
I’ve heard of someone who fantasizes about Bigfoot. Surely that would be ‘violent’. I mean, its not like he’s bringing flowers and shit.
Well, not the flowers…
He said Boobs!!!
Women fantasize about all sorts of weird stuff. I’ve read fantasy/sci-fi romance with everything from tentacle creatures to orcs to spider-people. It doesn’t really do anything for me personally, but I’ll still enjoy the book if it’s a nice story. Sometimes they will surprise you. And yeah sometimes Bigfoot totally does bring flowers. What do you think he is, a monster?
Based on the mother’s reaction, she could very well have said, “I’m going down on him, Mother!”
You’d be surprised at the connotations “baffled” will have in 100 years!
Connotationwise, 100 years ago? Yes, literally.
Try the third definition right now on UrbanDictionary!
Probably, 100 years in the future UrbanDictionary will be as revered as the OED. (Which also has surprises there.)
Are you sure about that? Potter gets away with the theft of $8,000.
And the first definition on Urban Dictionary helpfully tells us that “baffled” means a combination of “confused” and “baffled”.
Going to do as I do and assume the screenwriters were literate enough to knowingly drop a double-entendre in a place where they thought they could get away with it.
No question that screenwriters always tried to sneak double-entendres in.
But the term “making love” was ubiquitous in that era. I can’t remember a single use I thought was intended as a double-entendre, and one would be glaring to a 21st century sensibility. It always surprises by being such an innocuous term that it takes a modern reader or viewer out of the scene.
This.
From The Mummy (1932), our heroine says “Don’t you think I’ve had enough excitement for one day, without a strange man making love to me?”
That’s in response to the nerdy hero simply talking about how fascinating she is.
I always liked the scene with bathrobes after George and Mary fell into the pool.
It was sexy and kind of sweet at the same time.
From December 1952 “I Love Lucy”
Ethel:Oh, we ought to do this more often.
Fred: Oh, boy, I love to dance, but I haven’t danced in a while.
I’m a little out of condition.
Ethel:A little out of condition? He puffs so much, it’s like dancing with a steam engine.
Fred:(laughs) Steam engines always puff when they’re pushing a heavy load.
EthelIs that so? Now, listen, Fred…
Lucy: Now, now, now, wait a minute, you two, no bickering.
I’m having a wonderful time.
I don’t want anything to spoil this evening.
Ethel: We’re not bickering, that’s how we make love.
In modern terms, what seems like mean teasing to Lucy is how Fred and Ethel show affection for each other.
What does a Chinese baseball player have to do with anything?