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."
Now, all they had been doing was standing in a garden - talking! Where does the "making love" come into it? What did the phrase originally mean? Today, of course, we are talking about the physical, intimate act. But at one time "making love" must have meant talking or possibly flirting.
It shows how fluid the English language is, with phrases changing meaning, even words change their meaning. For example, when did "bad" become a noun (as in, "My bad.")? And some nouns even have to be modified these days from their original use, such as "manual typewriter," "rotary telephone," "black and white television."
But I digress. My bad.
I love Lucy...