When I first found myself plopped right smack dab in the middle of the BDSM community, I was totally unknowledgeable about different kinks, terminology, protocol… let’s just say pretty much everything. Now that I’m a few years in, I’m pretty well versed in most of the terminology and concepts. Of course, I’m most informed in my own specific areas of interest. This brings me to my topic of how terms are used. Is it a matter of semantics or do terms have specific meaning?

As anyone who reads my blog knows, I’m a little and I engage in age play with my Daddy. If you’ve read my erotica, you’ve probably put together that I have some strong primal tendencies. (I have a fun story about that, if Daddy doesn’t tell it first!)

I’ve always known age play to refer specifically to the sexual component of DD/lg relationships. Not all DD/lg relationships are sexual. Not all littles are sexual while in little space. The defining difference between the two categories of sexual and non-sexual littles is whether they engage in age play or not. Age play is the act of role playing Older/younger or being in little space during sex. To my knowledge, that is the sole meaning of the term.

The next one is primal play. Being primal or enjoying primal play refers specifically to enjoying sexual activities which are animalistic, rough, instinctual, Hunter/prey, growling, biting, scratching, etc. In the context of a kink discussion, this is the sole meaning of the terminology that I’m aware of. Of course, the word primal has a similar meaning in the English venacular.

I’ve recently seen two different bloggers use these terms in other ways. Is it correct to use age play as a general descriptor of all DD/lg relationships? Or does the term apply specifically to the sexual component of some DD/lg dynamics? Given that primal is a commonly used word in English, is it appropriate to use to term primal play to describe non-sexual activities enjoyed during little space?

I had this conversation with Daddy and we both agreed on the usage being incorrect, but I want to know what all of you think. Weigh-in in the comments. I’m curious! 🙂