Beast with two backs

{{short description|Euphemistic metaphor for two persons engaged in sexual intercourse}}

Making the beast with two backs is a euphemistic metaphor for two persons engaged in sexual intercourse. In English, the expression dates back to at least William Shakespeare's Othello (Act 1, Scene 1, ll. 126–127, {{circa|1601–1603}}):{{Cite book|chapter=Othello|last=Shakespeare|first=William|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1997|isbn=9781903436455|editor-last=Honigmann|editor-first=E.A.J.|edition=revised|location=Baltimore|pages=[https://archive.org/details/othelloardenshak00will/page/344 344]|doi=10.5040/9781408160206.00000010|display-authors=0|author-link=William Shakespeare|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/othelloardenshak00will/page/344}}

{{cquote|I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.[http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=othello&Act=1&Scene=1&Scope=scene Othello, Act I, scene i.]}}

It refers to the situation in which a couple—in the missionary position, on their sides, kneeling, or standing—cling to each other as if a single creature, with their backs to the outside. The earliest known occurrence of the phrase is in Rabelais's Gargantua and Pantagruel (c. 1532) as the phrase la bête à deux dos. Thomas Urquhart translated Gargantua and Pantagruel into English, which was published posthumously around 1693.{{cite web|author=Gary Martin |url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/58450.html |title=Beast with two backs |publisher=Phrases.org.uk |date= |accessdate=2013-12-09}}

{{cquote|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.wikisource:Gargantua/Chapter III}}