Meaning & use
going down on someone
Last updated
“going down on someone” is a form of “go down on someone”.
Meaning
phrasephrasal verbvulgarslang
A vulgar slang way of referring to oral sex, meaning stimulating a partner's genitals with the mouth.
Grammar: Takes a person as the object: going down on someone.
Patterns
- go down on someone
Teachers avoid the phrase going down on someone and use clinical terms instead.
A film censor may flag a script for dialogue about going down on someone.
In a polite conversation, people rarely use the expression going down on someone.
Word forms
| third person singular | goes down on someone |
|---|---|
| past tense | went down on someone |
| past participle | gone down on someone |
| -ing form | going down on someone |
Common combinations
- crude slang
- Going down on someone is crude slang that is bleeped on television.
- avoid the phrase
- Writers for children avoid the phrase altogether.
- a euphemism for
- The expression is a euphemism for a sexual act.
- explicit reference
- The lyrics included an explicit reference to the act.
Synonyms and how they differ
- oral sex
- Oral sex is the neutral term used in health and educational writing, so it is safer than the vulgar slang going down on someone.
- giving head
- Giving head is equally slangy and vulgar, but it focuses on the person doing the act.
- performing oral sex
- Performing oral sex is clinical and formal, appropriate for reports and legal language.
Word family
Commonly confused: going down on someone or go down with?
going down on someone vs go down with
Go down with means to catch an illness, as in go down with the flu, and has no sexual meaning.
Practice
A health leaflet needs a formal, neutral way to refer to what the slang phrase 'going down on someone' means. Which should it use?
Choose one answer.
Oral sex is the neutral clinical term. The other options are slang, vulgar or vague and unsuitable for an official health leaflet.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “going down on someone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.