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The meaning and origin of the expression: Beast with two backs

Beast with two backs

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Beast with two backs'?

Partners engaged in sexual intercourse.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Beast with two backs'?

This modern-sounding phrase is in fact at least as early as Shakespeare. He used it in Othello, 1604:

Iago:
"I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs."

The beast with two backsShakespeare may have been the first to use it in English, although a version of it appears in Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel, circa 1532. This was translated into English by Thomas Urquhart and published posthumously around 1693:

"In the vigour of his age he married Gargamelle, daughter to the King of the Parpaillons, a jolly pug, and well-mouthed wench. These two did oftentimes do the two-backed beast together, joyfully rubbing and frotting their bacon 'gainst one another."

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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