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Sorry for the ridiculous question, but I can't understand the difference between fap and masturbation. Does fap mean the whole progress?

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In case vulgar slang is considered too dangerous for this site, you can always find answers to questions like these at urbandictionary.com. Be warned, though: there is a lot of crude language on that site. – e.James Apr 10 '11 at 19:44
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Also be warned that it contains a lot of stuff that is just plain made up. – psmears Apr 10 '11 at 21:47
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Funny how when we don't know a word someone asks about, we assume it must be from the other side of the Atlantic (both ways round). No, it's not British. – Colin Fine Apr 10 '11 at 22:44
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Is [NFSW] necessary, in the title? – kiamlaluno Apr 11 '11 at 2:12
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@kiamlaluno Depends where you work :) – trideceth12 Apr 11 '11 at 11:21
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4 Answers

up vote 13 down vote accepted

For the sake of giving this a fun answer in case you're asking in earnest...

Fap is an internet neologism, an onomatopoeic intransitive verb referring to the act of male masturbation, whose sound is imitative of the associated slapping of testicles against the body. Fapping refers exclusively to male masturbation; female masturbation is (in context and by association, but very rarely in practice) referred to as paffing or squishing. Reportedly it has its origins in the Japanese-language comic sound effects used in manga, in reference to the same act.

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+1 but i'd like to see a reference that it comes from manga – trideceth12 Apr 11 '11 at 11:22
@trideceth12: How about the first reference I put? – Jon Purdy Apr 11 '11 at 15:08
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On the chans, female masturbation is called "Schlicking" – Chris Cudmore Apr 15 '11 at 13:04
@chris: Right you are. Presumably that's true anywhere chan slang is common, such as ED. – Jon Purdy Apr 15 '11 at 15:52
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A possibly helpful analogy: fap is to masturbation as nom is to eating. – PLL May 29 '11 at 21:45
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'fap' is a slang term. We have many slang terms in English, some more familiar (or crude) than others, for masturbation. They all signify the general, uh, "process," if you will.

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Anything can be used as a euphemism, though. I particularly like the Xing the old Y construction, for example, stranking the old wollydingle. Doesn't mean a thing, but you know just what it means. – Jon Purdy Apr 10 '11 at 20:04
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That construction inspires a lot of clever (and hilarious) invention; even a certain intonation does the trick. Palmdale, for example, is a small town in the greater Los Angeles area. It doesn't have nearly as many visitors as people claim. – mfe Apr 10 '11 at 20:32
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Unlike masturbation, fapping is, exclusively, the auto-erotic stimulation of the penis. Fapping is not used to describe intellectual, mutual, anal, or vaginal masturbation.

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Actually, the word fap has existed in English for a long time meaning drunk to the point of befuddlement, as in Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor":

Bardolph: Why, sir, for my part I say the gentleman had drunk himself out of his five sentences.

Sir Hugh Evans: It is his five senses: fie, what the ignorance is!

Bardolph: And being fap, sir, was, as they say, cashiered; and so conclusions passed the careires.

In it's more recent meaning that refers to masturbation, its usage is somewhat different. It is onomatopœtic of course, and when used it is normally intended to have a comic false obliqueness (it pretends to be subtle, when really it's less subtle than just saying "masturbate"). So one might say "fap, fap, fap" meaning "I am going to think about this later while masturbating", as a crude joke.

It's popularity is generally credited to the web-comic "Sexy Losers", (considerably more NSFW than this page, google if you want to find it), whose author has said:

It was pulled from the Viz translation of Heartbroken Angels. Although there were a number of sounds the translator used for masturbation (there’s a lot of that going on in that comic), I chose the word fap as it came from a particular strip that had god[sic and not clear whether they meant God or good] masturbating.

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