# Origin of the term"69" for a sex act **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326 "2004-11-30T14:33:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/1 "2004-11-30T14:33:22Z")
What is the origin of the term “69”? When did it first get started? How did it get started? Who first used the term? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/2 "2004-11-30T14:43:15Z")
> [@Kel Varnsen - Latex Division](#): > > What is the origin of the term “69”? When did it first get started? How did it get started? Who first used the term? It was originally “soixante-neuf” in French, and just comes from the numbers 6 and 9 together looking like a picture of the two partners giving oral sex to each other. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/3 "2004-11-30T14:53:45Z")
A related question: Does the line “Get your kicks on Route 66” represent anal sex? I’ve heard the song and just assumed this to be the case. ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/4 "2004-11-30T14:54:02Z")
Wouldn’t it look more like a six and ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/5 "2004-11-30T14:56:50Z")
Sorry. Wouldn’t it look more like a 6 and a 9 if it was two flexible people curled up performing oral sex on themselves next to each other like this: 69 Two people in a 69 don’t really look like a 6 and a 9 to me. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/6 "2004-11-30T14:58:05Z")
> [@Jackknifed Juggernaut](#): > > A related question: Does the line “Get your kicks on Route 66” represent anal sex? I’ve heard the song and just assumed this to be the case. No. The song is the theme from the old TV show, Route 66, which took place along US Highway 66, which before Interstates was the main highway between Chicago and Los Angeles. ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/7 "2004-11-30T14:58:21Z")
> [@Jackknifed Juggernaut](#): > > A related question: Does the line “Get your kicks on Route 66” represent anal sex? I’ve heard the song and just assumed this to be the case. I think that is a reference to driving cross country. Route 66 was the only major road that you take once you got to the Midwest if you were going to California. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/8 "2004-11-30T15:04:38Z")
> [@Kel Varnsen - Latex Division](#): > > Sorry. Wouldn’t it look more like a 6 and a 9 if it was two flexible people curled up performing oral sex on themselves next to each other like this: > > 69 > > Two people in a 69 don’t really look like a 6 and a 9 to me. Well, obviously it isn’t completely realistic, but if you take the circular part of each number to be a person’s head and the “tail” of each number to be the rest of the person’s body, surely you can see how it represents two people with their heads lined up to the other person’s genitals. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/9 "2004-11-30T15:05:35Z")
> [@Jackknifed Juggernaut](#): > > A related question: Does the line “Get your kicks on Route 66” represent anal sex? I’ve heard the song and just assumed this to be the case. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/10 "2004-11-30T15:09:43Z")
> [@Etymology Online](#): > > Sixty-nine in sexual sense is first attested 1888, as a transl. of Fr. faire soixante neuf, lit. “to do 69.” Cite: [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=s&p=24](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=s&p=24) I find it funny that someone from latex division is asking this. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/11 "2004-11-30T15:10:38Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > :eek: Hey, hey, I’m quite familiar with Route 66, the highway. I just thought the song had a double meaning. If you can picture why simultaneous oral sex is called 69, you can surely picture 66 meaning what I thought it meant. I’ve always just assumed that Route 66 is the proverbial Hershey Highway. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/12 "2004-11-30T15:54:31Z")
I disagree with the contention that 69 as a sex term was first spotted in 1988. It was the topic of locker-room snickering when I was a high-school kid in 1965. A couple of guys got sent home from school for wearing 69 t-shirts, so apparently the teachers knew about it, too. This was in central Indiana, which usually lags behind the coastal areas in fads and fashion. By the way, the imagery is easier if you imagine sideways-looking faces on the round parts of 69, with the 6 face upside down and facing toward the 9. A variation, 19, indicated a one-sided blowjob. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/13 "2004-11-30T15:58:54Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > I disagree with the contention that 69 as a sex term was first spotted in 1988. It was the topic of locker-room snickering when I was a high-school kid in 1965. And, of course, the famous Serge Gainsbourg song “Soixante-neuf (l’annee erotique)” which also predates a 1988 reference. However, it seems you misread the date, as **Fire Engine** cited 1 **8** 88 in her reference. ---
**Author:** ![Cockatiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cockatiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cockatiel)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/14 "2004-11-30T16:12:03Z")
> [@Jackknifed Juggernaut](#): > > A related question: Does the line “Get your kicks on Route 66” represent anal sex? I’ve heard the song and just assumed this to be the case. I think a while back someone told me that 33 was supposed to represent anal sex. Can anyone confirm this? ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/15 "2004-11-30T16:13:03Z")
It becomes apparent I can’t code. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/16 "2004-11-30T16:13:31Z")
“Ma’am, if you think I can do that sixty-eight more times, you’re crazy!” ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/17 "2004-11-30T16:18:56Z")
Sigh. So much misinformation. “Route 66,” the song (Get your kicks on Route 66) was written by Bobby Troupe in 1946. Nat King Cole’s trio had a chart hit with it that same year. “Theme from Route 66,” for the TV show “Route 66,” was written by Nelson Riddle. The show ran from 1960-1964, the theme (an instrumental) was a Top 40 hit in 1962. Visit [here](http://calwestray.tripod.com/midi.htm) for midis of the above two different pieces of music. Route 66, the highway, is an American icon, and was for some time before the song was written. The song is easily understood as a celebration of it. To postulate a double meaning related to anal sex strikes me as reaching **WAY** too far. In fact, I would suspect that no one else, most especially Bobby Troupe, has even thought such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/18 "2004-11-30T17:56:45Z")
So if the loop on the six and nine respectively are supposed to represent the heads the two parties involved I’m not sure how you get anal sex from 66…wouldn’t 66 be two people standing on their heads? Maybe it is one of those unnatural new-age hippie kama sutra sex acts…I surelywouldn’t know. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/19 "2004-11-30T18:02:34Z")
> [@Ol'Gaffer](#): > > …wouldn’t 66 be two people standing on their heads? Yeah, but if you did it the other way it would give that _Get Smart_ gal an entirely new character. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326/20 "2004-11-30T18:03:22Z")
All I know is that Interstate 69 signs are frequently replaced as they often wind up on dormitory walls as decor. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-69-for-a-sex-act/277326.md?page=2)