Yiff
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Yiff is an onomatopoetic word that was originally coined in 1990 by Foxen[1] while roleplaying his fursona littlefox. It was originally a positive exclamation in Foxen's Foxish language, but the word has changed over time from its original meaning of "a cheerful greeting, an energetic 'yes!'" to an expression of sexual interest or activity (see Foxish Language for details on the lexicon). It is now a very common word which can be used as an interjection, an adjective ("yiffy"), a verb, or a noun (in which case it typically refers to anthropomorphic erotica), though some prefer to use more conventional English in its place regardless.
Various sources mention it could be named after the noise foxes make while mating. However, many, regardless of whether they are a furry or not, deny this, as they have never heard a fox make that sound when mating, or when in heat. [citation needed]
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[edit] Term development
In Foxish, yiff initially meant "yes!" or an enthused "hello!". Later, "yiff" was assigned a more sexual connotation, a meaning that had previously been assigned to yipp (a coarse form of yip.)[2] This was compounded by several fox characters on Furry MUCK who were spreading a very sexual reputation for the species at about the same time as this came into common usage. (While it is a matter of preference, many highly dislike the use of "yiff" as a verb and prefer seeing the real English equivalents used, as they find that "yiff" makes sentences awkward, lacks a clear definition, or "sounds stupid.")
Yiff could also be used in place of the F word, for example, "Ah,yiff that!" or "Yiff You!" mostly used by furries and not many else.
[edit] Additional term usage
- A foxish greeting
- Another word for the F word
- An expression of happiness and success
- General sexual activity or context (yiffing)
- Cybersex or TinySex
- The title of a planned musical theater piece
- Erotic or pornographic anthropomorphic art
The last is arguably the most common. Entire sites have sprung up around erotic activities, such as Yiffstar, an erotic textual story and artwork archive.
[edit] Yiffing
Yiffing is a term for sexual intercourse between furs.
[edit] Origin
The exact time the term "yiffing" was coined is disputed. The most popular etymology stems from the 1980s, citing that "yiff" was the sound foxes make while mating (there are many other disputed origins for the term, as well). Within the fandom today, the term can be used to describe either real sexual activity or cybersex; unless stated otherwise, uses within this article refer to the cybersex elements. "Mating" is sometimes used as well, in addition to all common real-life sexual euphemisms.
[edit] Euphemisms
Yiffing comes with its own set of sexual euphemisms, in addition to many of the same slang terms used in human sex. For example, a popular term for male masturbation is "pawing off". A newer term that is starting to be used for female masturbation is "digiting".[citation needed] There are also many euphemisms that pre-date the furry fandom, such as "fucking like rabbits".
[edit] See also
- The Yiffy Guide to Safer Sex
- The Wiktionary articles for the words yiff, yiffy, yiffs, and yiffing.
- #yiff on Anthrochat
- #yiff on FurNet
[edit] References
Did you know? The earliest known recorded use of the word is in Sir Thomas Malory's 1485 epic, Le Morte d'Arthur, which was the Middle English equivalent to the modern day conjunction, "If."
 This stub about a term could be expanded.
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