Though the term "petting" may seem quaintly archaic in the sexually frank latter days of the twentieth century, it reveals a lot about sexual attitudes in the earlier part of the century in which it was coined. Describing pre-intercourse sexual acts, or foreplay, the word petting manages to capture both the innocence and the euphemistic repression that we identify with the 1950s and early 1960s.

This post-World War II period, which is loosely referred to as "the fifties," was characterized by coded and metaphorical references to sex, the baseball metaphor being one of the most common. There are regional differences in the meanings of the bases, but one common definition describes first base as passionate kissing, second base as touching the (girl's) breasts, third base as touching the (girl's) genitals with the (boy's) hands, and home base as intercourse. Likewise, the definitions of necking and petting have been...