phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

It primes his dating pump

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on August 30, 2004

In Reply to: It primes his dating pump posted by Guy on August 30, 2004

: : : : : : : Hello,
: : : : : : : Could anyone tell me what the sentence means?

: : : : : : : I looked up "prime" it says "to supply a pump" or something...

: : : : : : : Thanks in advance

: : : : : : To prime something generally means to prepare it in some fashion. If you're going to fire an old-fashioned firearm you put primer (gunpowder) in the pan to prepare it. If you're going to paint a car or house you first apply a primer, that is, a first coat, to prepare the wood or metal to accept the next coat or final coat. Until less than a hundred years ago most households obtained their water from wells, and to get the water up out of the well often used a hand-pump. The actual water level often lay well below the level of the pump, so you might spend a lot of time pumping out air until the water level rose to that of the pump. This was tedious, but if you had some water at hand, you could pour it down the pipe until the water level was where the pump could suck it up without numerous wasted strokes. Pouring the water down was "priming the pump." Some analogous procedure is often used with pumps or siphons. Priming your dating pump would have to mean in some way preparing yourself for a date, or for beginning to date (say, by dating your sister first), or for starting serious dating. Is this more than you wanted to know? SS

: : : : : You are a fount of knowledge SS.

: : : :
: : : : :of course, there is a more literal meaning...though I've never personally been afflicted with premature ejaculation, I've heard that some young men have been known to "prime the pump"( spank the monkey, choke the chicken, etc.) before a date to avoid a sticky situation.

: : : Hmmm.

: : : I have seen the phrase used to mean sexual preparation. A young man was the lover of an older, unattractive (but very rich) woman. Someone said, "I hate to think what he has to do to prime his pump."

: : Boy, I'm REALLY behind the curve. It absolutely would never have occurred to me that someone would do what has been suggested above in preparation for a date. For that matter, I'm not entirely sure that I even KNOW what has been suggested above. SS

: Smokey -- you have been revealed to be a woman. You have certainly never been a teen aged boy!

I have to admit that as a teenager it never occurred to me to "prime the pump" before a date. But afterwards... Anyway, there's a famous scene in the movie "Something About Mary" where Ben Stiller "primes his pump" before a date with Mary (Cameron Diaz). My wife thought it was gross but many people thought it was very funny.

© 1997 – 2024 Phrases.org.uk. All rights reserved.