Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

make out on the bus

English answer:

snog/neck on the bus

Added to glossary by Yvonne Gallagher
Aug 21, 2015 13:30
8 yrs ago
English term

make out on the bus

Non-PRO English Art/Literary Slang film
Hi I stumbeld on that one
You may love or be someone who can't have kids
2:17.29or doesn't want to,
2:18.54who believes in marriage but also in divorce,
2:20.79who's from a culture where people don't really date
2:22.97the way we think of dating,
2:24.75or who just doesn't want to make out on the bus

Why make out on the bus? Is it just kidd someone on the bus? Is it like kind of teenage prank ?
What's the cultural background?

Thanks!
Change log

Sep 4, 2015 08:12: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry

Discussion

Charles Davis Aug 21, 2015:
@Mikhail Whether it's a double-decker bus is irrelevant. That's just UK (and Irish) speakers of a certain age reminiscing.

There's nothing special about it being done in a bus. It simply means in public, and in close proximity to strangers, where other people can't help seeing. There's a slight suggestion of exhibitionism in the idea of doing it on a bus, as opposed to a park bench, for example, or a cinema (another favourite place for courting couples in the past), where it's dark. The nature of "making out" is important, though; the cultural implications of open-mouth kissing and fondling in a very public place are different from those of just holding hands or embracing. They are different now from, say, thirty or forty years ago. They are different in different places, even within a country like the United States. And of course they are different if those doing it are the same sex, though that is not involved in this question.

Well done for finding the source, but having watched it I don't think it makes any difference to the answer.
Yvonne Gallagher Aug 21, 2015:
@ Mikhail. Where is the "extra context"? In Russian?
If a question is En> En then all comments should really be in English as well where possible
Otherwise the asker could have posted this as En> Ru

As I said, the original text is very clear...some people make out on buses, some don't. Some cultures never will, because they don't "date" as such and some people never will because they prefer to do stuff like that in private
Mikhail Kropotov Aug 21, 2015:
You missed my point. The asker's question wasn't about the meaning of the slang term but its cultural connotations in their text. Yet all the answers and comments are discussing whether making out includes groping and whether the bus has one or two levels. The irony is that, while most askers refuse to provide any additional context or clarify the intent of their questions, thereby failing to help willing answerers help them, this question has been precisely the opposite.
Yvonne Gallagher Aug 21, 2015:
@ Mikail, nothing ironic about it. It seems to be quite clear
"who's from a culture where people don't really date the way we think of dating,=a culture where dating isn't carried out in the same way as we date

"or who just doesn't want to make out on the bus"
= some people (myself included) never want to make out in public...not just a cultural thing but more from a sense of privateness?
Mikhail Kropotov Aug 21, 2015:
How ironic that for once, an asker has provided plenty of context and elaborated on what is exactly confusing them, yet no answerers seem to be interested in this additional information.
Charles Davis Aug 21, 2015:
In my day the back seat of the upper deck of double-decker buses was often in demand for this purpose.
Charles Davis Aug 21, 2015:
Mainly mouth-to-mouth kissing, but can be more... "Making out is usually considered an expression of affection or sexual attraction. An episode of making out is frequently referred to as a "make-out session" or simply "making out," depending on the speaker's vernacular. It covers a wide range of sexual behavior, and means different things to different age groups in different parts of the United States. It typically refers to kissing, including prolonged, passionate, open-mouth kissing (also known as French kissing), and intimate skin-to-skin contact. The term can also refer to other forms of foreplay such as heavy petting, which typically involves some genital stimulation, but usually not the direct act of penetrative sexual intercourse."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_out
kirobite (asker) Aug 21, 2015:
Yes, Mikhail, after searching it in google it first I came across a number of youtube videos, when people (mostly teenagers) did kiss on the bus. But I was thinking it should have some kind of cultural background. Like our "целоваться в подъезде" which was when people had nowhere else to date

Responses

+4
8 mins
Selected

snog/neck on the bus

easy to find but I'd see it as more than just "kissing". Some groping involved too!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_out
Peer comment(s):

agree Mikhail Kropotov : Yes, you're obviously right, I oversimplified it. Fondling, etc. is included. Though that's not what seems to be troubling this asker.
11 mins
Thanks:-) Yes, obviously some cultural groups would never carry on with this activity (esp. in public view!)
agree B D Finch
26 mins
Thanks:-)
agree Charles Davis
2 hrs
Thanks:-)
agree Charlesp
2 days 1 hr
Thanks:-)
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+1
2 mins

kiss on the bus

make out means to kiss
целовать в школьном автобусе

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Note added at 2 mins (2015-08-21 13:33:30 GMT)
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целоваться, прощу прощения

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Note added at 13 mins (2015-08-21 13:44:02 GMT)
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I watched your vid here http://www.cclocator.com/en/video/?v=5sY4rhvB9LE&lang=en

The point they're making is that displays of affection are different in different cultures. In some cultures a couple of young people might kiss and fondle each other in a semi-public place like the school bus, while in others it would not be appropriate. If translating into Russian, I would localize this to "on the subway" (в метро) though the problem is that we see the bus explicitly in the video. Then you might say "in public transport" (в общественном транспорте).

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Note added at 23 mins (2015-08-21 13:54:19 GMT)
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Well, в подъезде is close, though it's not as public as on the bus. Plus, the video shows us an actual bus, so you can hardly get away from translating along the lines of some kind of transport.

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Note added at 30 mins (2015-08-21 14:01:01 GMT)
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Also, kids riding the school bus don't have a wide choice of partners. A bus fits about 30-40 kids, with ages possibly ranging from 6 to 18. So if a couple of kids are smooching on the bus, that probably means they are just experimenting with whoever was available, more or less. That's one minor difference from smooching on the staircase of an apartment building, where two teens might go after choosing each from a much larger number of available 'partners' in their neighborhood or school.
Peer comment(s):

neutral B D Finch : Where did you get the idea of this being a school bus? As British buses are often double-deckers, the upper deck gives a little bit more privacy than the lower deck or a tube train.
36 mins
From the video. The narrator is American and the video shows a school bus.
agree airmailrpl : kiss and hug (and fondle) on the bus
10 hrs
neutral Charlesp : explanatory, but Gallagy's answer uses better terminology here *(for this context)
2 days 1 hr
It's not about terminology!!
Something went wrong...
10 hrs

to make out = making out = heavy petting = foreplay

I left out 'on the bus' because this activity can happen anywhere.
'Making out' covers a wide range of sexual behaviour; it includes
French kissing, some genital stimulation ... everything short of
sexual intercourse.
Peer comment(s):

neutral airmailrpl : things are different in Canada !!
3 hrs
And things are different in Brazil ... I don't understand your remark ...
Something went wrong...
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