# What does "hook up with" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119 "2012-08-30T07:35:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/1 "2012-08-30T07:35:04Z")
I’ve been youtubing around, and among older teenagers and 20-something’s I hear the phrase “hook up with,” or “they hooked up.” Sometimes it means “met,” but other times I have the distinct feeling it means (overnight?) casual sex. It is distinct from meeting for a date, which is another phrase, which I can’t remember now. Kids these days. I hate being reminded how much closer I am to really thinking about mortality. It really harshes my buzz, man. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/2 "2012-08-30T07:40:22Z")
It means sex but also a relationship, hooked up implies something more than casual sex. I’d have no doubt that if someone told me so and so hooked up they did not mean a platonic dinner date. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/3 "2012-08-30T07:43:32Z")
From what I understand…“hooked up with” means got together with. It’s also used like “so and so hooked me up with…” as meant in “turned me on to.” Informed me about/introduced me to, say…a good mechanic. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/4 "2012-08-30T09:51:22Z")
yeah, it’s not limited to sex. it’s a general term referring to putting two parts together. these parts can be two human people ("me and my client need to hook up this week for a meeting), as mentioned “introduced to” (i got hooked up with this great new church/he hooked me up to this new concept of web-surfing), or can mean parts (they hooked up ((their sexual organs//i got hooked up with a black suv ((car crash)). i believe in the op example, it’s referring to romantic entanglement. it doesn’t per se have to refer to casual sex, as it is often said “they were hooking up for a while” as reference to two people dating (maybe it is presumed they were having sex, but that isn’t necessarily the implication of the term). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/5 "2012-08-30T13:11:09Z")
I have heard the term “hooked up” to mean have sex with but this usage was not in play when I was a teenager (I am 55). I first heard this usage around 1990, although I am not exactly on the cutting edge of pop culture so it probably started earlier than that. All the old usages are still valid, mostly to meet (in person), to communicate with, or to establish some sort of connection to, as described in posts above. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/6 "2012-08-30T13:32:06Z")
it is an old fishing phrase. if you’re using worm bait then you’ve hooked up with worms. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/7 "2012-08-30T13:55:42Z")
For what it’s worth, Paula England, a sociologist at NYU, uses a loose definition in her studies “hookup culture”. From this month’s [Atlantic Monthly](http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/09/boys-on-the-side/309062/?single_page=true) (bolding mine): > [@](#): > > Since 2005, [England] has been collecting data from an online survey about hookups. She is up to about 20,000 responses—the largest sample to date. In her survey, college seniors report an average of 7.9 hookups over four years, but a median of only five. **(“Hookups” do not necessarily involve sex; students are instructed to use whatever definition their friends use.)** This confirms what other surveys have found: people at either end of the scale are skewing the numbers. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/8 "2012-08-30T14:10:16Z")
OED’s earliest cite for hook-up (n.) in the sexual sense is 1987, although I’m sure specialist American slang dictionaries would be able to antedate that. > [@](#): > > hookup, n. > > slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.). A romantic or sexual relationship; esp. a casual sexual encounter. Cf. to hook up vb. 1 at hook v. Additions. > > 1987 X. W. Cartiér Be-bop, Re-bop ii. 60 Our relationship..didn’t exactly start out to be one of those everlastin hook-ups. For the plain sense _connect with_ the earliest cite is 1925. None of the cites given are of person connecting with person but it’s a natural development. > [@](#): > > hook, v. > > 4, e > > to hook up : to establish a link with, to make a connection with. Also const. to, and with direct object. Cf. hook-up n. > > 1925 H. Crane Let. 27 Oct. (1965) 218 They want to hook the book up with an illustrious name. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/9 "2012-08-30T14:41:18Z")
If it’s a high schooler or college-age kid, I’d say it means casual sex. If it’s an older person it could mean casual sex, meeting someone somewhere, or starting to date someone. Really you’d have to be in on the whole conversation to know for sure whether it means sex, but generally I think it means sex. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/10 "2012-08-30T14:52:54Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > If it’s a high schooler or college-age kid, I’d say it means casual sex. > > If it’s an older person it could mean casual sex, meeting someone somewhere, or starting to date someone. Really you’d have to be in on the whole conversation to know for sure whether it means sex, but generally I think it means sex. ^ This ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/11 "2012-08-30T15:00:57Z")
Tom Wolfe did a long essay on this in his 2001 book [Hooking Up](http://www.amazon.com/Hooking-Up-Tom-Wolfe/dp/0312420234). He used it as casual sex, but I would expect its usage to drift over a decade. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/12 "2012-08-30T15:01:51Z")
In college in the mid-90s, it meant casual sex (ETA: or at least some romantic entanglement. Being college kids, we assumed sexual activities of some sort, not just a little kiss, although making out with someone could be considered “hooking up,” too.) It can be used in other context, though. Like “Let’s hook up after the game at Jimmy’s” just means “let’s meet.” “Bob and Sally hooked up last night” usually implies a sexual liason of some sort. As always [Urbandictionary.com](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hook+up) is a good reference for this sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/13 "2012-08-30T15:05:06Z")
[creaky old person voice] Back in my day [/creaky old person voice] (late 80s, early 90s) amongst my peer group it meant casual sex. “Jen hooked up with Mike” meant the two of them had a sexual encounter, of the non-relationship variety. A hook up could end up as a dating relationship, but it didn’t have to, and was definitely not preceded by dating. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/14 "2012-08-30T15:07:06Z")
Depends on context. “Did you hook up with that girl last night?” - Sex "We hooked up after the game and went to. . . " - Casual hanging out “Jim doesn’t work here anymore, he hooked up with another firm.” - Business “Don’t forget to hook up with your parachute before jumping out of the plane.” - Safety ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/15 "2012-08-30T15:26:13Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > If it’s a high schooler or college-age kid, I’d say it means casual sex. > > If it’s an older person it could mean casual sex, meeting someone somewhere, or starting to date someone. Really you’d have to be in on the whole conversation to know for sure whether it means sex, but generally I think it means sex. IME, most older adults (say 40+) rarely use the phrase with a sexual connotation. I’d say 25 and under, it usually means casual sex, 40+ it’s almost always non-sexual, 25-40 it can go either way and meaning depends on context. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/16 "2012-08-30T15:30:48Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > Depends on context. > > “Did you hook up with that girl last night?” - Sex > > "We hooked up after the game and went to. . . " - Casual hanging out > > “Jim doesn’t work here anymore, he hooked up with another firm.” - Business > > “Don’t forget to hook up with your parachute before jumping out of the plane.” - Safety Definitely. The second one is something I have heard a lot and definitely did not involve any shenanigans. Going by what someone said earlier, I guess that is the older usage. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/17 "2012-08-30T15:55:41Z")
Is velcro involved? ---
**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:** [August 30, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/18 "2012-08-30T15:58:31Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > IME, most older adults (say 40+) rarely use the phrase with a sexual connotation. > > I’d say 25 and under, it usually means casual sex, 40+ it’s almost always non-sexual, 25-40 it can go either way and meaning depends on context. I’d put it a bit higher than 40+ for “almost always non-sexual.” I’m 37, and certainly the people who were seniors when I was a freshman in college used it in the sexual sense. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/19 "2012-08-30T17:11:49Z")
If someone’s said this and I just missed it, my apologies: Especially among the current younger crowd, hook-up is often used as a noun - for example, “Jenny and I had a hook-up last night.” This does indicate a sexual, casual, non-relationship encounter. (Though sexual could be anything from cuddling or making out all the way up to intercourse, and the relationship might develop later.) I’ve never seen hook-up used as a noun with any other meaning. Used as a verb (“Jenny and I hooked up last night”), you have to rely on context to know what’s meant. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-hook-up-with-mean/633119/20 "2012-08-30T21:01:53Z")
When I was an undergraduate in the college band, about 15 years ago, when we went on our fall tour the tuba section always ran a betting pool on who would hook up over the course of the trip. It _could_ mean sex, but it was really an “I know it when I see it” sort of situation: Anything that indicated a romantic or sexual connection and that was known to the tubists counted: Kissing, always making it a point to sit very close in the same seat on the bus, whatever. Note, though, that a continuation of an already-existing relationship didn’t count (though whether a relationship continued afterwards was wholly irrelevant).