Making Love

The other night I was watching an old "I Love Lucy" episode, which was filmed in the 1950's, and Ethel and Fred Mertz are arguing.  Lucy comes in and says, "Don't you two ever stop fighting?"  And Ethel replies, "We're not fighting.  That's how Fred and I make love."

It sounded strange, because today the phrase "making love" refers to sexual intercourse.  When, I wondered, did the meaning change?

It reminded me of another time I had heard that phrase, and it was also from the time of the Fifties: In the beautiful and romantic 1957 film, "Sayonara," starring Marlon Brando and one of my all-time favorites.  There is a scene in which Ricardo Montalban, playing a Japanese character, says to the American leading lady, Patricia Owens, "Do not worry, Miss Webster, I am not necessarily making love to you."