Cottaging

Cottaging is a gay slang term, originating from the United Kingdom, referring to anonymous sex between men in a public lavatory (a "cottage"^[1] or "tea-room"^[2]),^[3] or cruising for sexual partners with the intention of having sex elsewhere.^[4]^[5] The term has its roots in self-contained English toilet blocks resembling small cottages in their appearance; in the English cant language of Polari this became a double entendre by gay men referring to sexual encounters.^[6] See also gay beat in Australian English.

The word "cottage", usually meaning a small, cosy, countryside home, is documented as having been in use during the Victorian era to refer to a public toilet and by the 1960s its use in this sense had become an exclusively homosexual slang term.^[7]^[8] This usage is predominantly British, though the term is occasionally used with the same meaning in other parts of the world.^[9] Among gay men in the United States, lavatories used for this purpose are called tea rooms.^[10]^[11]

^ (Dalzell & Victor 2007, p. 165) "cottage noun a public lavatory used for homosexual encounters (UK)."
^ Andre(Dalzell & Victor 2007, p. 642) "tearoom; t-room noun a public toilet. From an era when a great deal of homosexual contact was in public toilets; probably an abbreviation of 'toilet room'.
^ Cite error: The named reference Mowlabocus2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Sex Tips for Gay Guys by Dan Anderson; Published by Macmillan, 2002; ISBN 0-312-28873-5, ISBN 978-0-312-28873-0
^ "Spies like us: His new thriller uses the latest DNA research and mobile phones as deadly weapons. So why look for inspiration in a Brompton cemetery? Henry Porter recalls a mix of luck, judgement and detective work 21 June 1999". The Guardian. I watched from the corner of my eye and began to notice something else: the men seemed to be pairing off and dipping from view. Finally the penny dropped – I had hit cottaging hour among the moss-covered memorials to Kensington's long-dead bourgeoisie.
^ Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang by Paul Baker; Published by Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004; ISBN 0-8264-7343-1, ISBN 978-0-8264-7343-1.
^ James Redding Ware (1909), Passing English of the Victorian era, EP, ISBN 0-85409-932-8
^ Michael George Schofield, Gordon Westwood (1960), A minority: a report on the life of the male homosexual in Great Britain, p. 74, Most homosexuals regard 'cottaging' as very sordid and look down upon those who resort to this method of finding partners.
^ Maupin, A. (1984). Babycakes. Harper Collins. p. 105. ISBN 0-06-092483-7. 'I was busted for cottaging... You know..doin' it in a cottage... A cottage', Wilfred repeated. 'A public loo.'
^ Rodgers, Bruce Gay Talk (The Queen’s Vernacular): A Dictionary of Gay Slang New York:1972 Parragon Books, an imprint of G.P. Putnam’s Sons Page 195.
^ In 1970, an American graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis, Laud Humphreys published a famous and controversial PhD dissertation, Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places, on the tearoom phenomenon, attempting to categorize the diverse social backgrounds and personal motives. See (Humphreys 1975).

[1] (Dalzell & Victor 2007, p. 165) "cottage noun a public lavatory used for homosexual encounters (UK)."

[Dalzell2007-2] Andre(Dalzell & Victor 2007, p. 642) "tearoom; t-room noun a public toilet. From an era when a great deal of homosexual contact was in public toilets; probably an abbreviation of 'toilet room'.

[Mowlabocus2008-3] Cite error: The named reference Mowlabocus2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[4] Sex Tips for Gay Guys by Dan Anderson; Published by Macmillan, 2002; ISBN 0-312-28873-5, ISBN 978-0-312-28873-0

[5] "Spies like us: His new thriller uses the latest DNA research and mobile phones as deadly weapons. So why look for inspiration in a Brompton cemetery? Henry Porter recalls a mix of luck, judgement and detective work 21 June 1999". The Guardian. I watched from the corner of my eye and began to notice something else: the men seemed to be pairing off and dipping from view. Finally the penny dropped – I had hit cottaging hour among the moss-covered memorials to Kensington's long-dead bourgeoisie.

[fantabulous-6] Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang by Paul Baker; Published by Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004; ISBN 0-8264-7343-1, ISBN 978-0-8264-7343-1.

[7] James Redding Ware (1909), Passing English of the Victorian era, EP, ISBN 0-85409-932-8

[8] Michael George Schofield, Gordon Westwood (1960), A minority: a report on the life of the male homosexual in Great Britain, p. 74, Most homosexuals regard 'cottaging' as very sordid and look down upon those who resort to this method of finding partners.

[9] Maupin, A. (1984). Babycakes. Harper Collins. p. 105. ISBN 0-06-092483-7. 'I was busted for cottaging... You know..doin' it in a cottage... A cottage', Wilfred repeated. 'A public loo.'

[10] Rodgers, Bruce Gay Talk (The Queen’s Vernacular): A Dictionary of Gay Slang New York:1972 Parragon Books, an imprint of G.P. Putnam’s Sons Page 195.

[humphreys-11] In 1970, an American graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis, Laud Humphreys published a famous and controversial PhD dissertation, Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places, on the tearoom phenomenon, attempting to categorize the diverse social backgrounds and personal motives. See (Humphreys 1975).

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]