Talk:paw

Paw(Verb)

To paw in a furry context means masturbate. There is nothing explicit in the meaning. I have already added it twice(forgot to log in) and an IP user has reverted it saying it's inappropriate / vandalism which it is not. I will put it back one last time and see how it goes, if someone objects, please post here. AlexWolfx 23:15, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

Given the supposed meaning, I understand why it was interpreted as vandalism. It does also sound plausible that it would be used with that meaning in that context, though. A problem is that Wiktionary doesn't count mentions in secondary sources (other dictionaries, like the one you linked to) as meeting our criteria for inclusion. We'll need examples of it being used in durably archived places — books, or published journals, or even Usenet posts count. I'll tag it with RFV-sense. — Beobach 23:25, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

Not sure what RFV means, but I could find plenty of online stories written by various artist using this term. If that's what you would like. It being used in many places would seem primary right? AlexWolfx 00:04, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

We don't actually count uses in online stories, only uses in "permanently recorded media", such as Usenet, print works (books, magazines), and durably archived audio and video. That said, if you can provide any sort of citations, that would help us understand exactly how the word behaves. Right now I can't tell if a sentence like "He spent all day watching porn and pawing" is possible, or if we're talking about transitive senses of "masturbate" as in "She pawed him for a few minutes", or if "masturbate" is even a bad gloss and really we're talking about uses like "He pawed his dick", or what. Such understanding is important both in and of itself — we're a dictionary, that's part of our remit — and it will also help in figuring out to search for the word. Obviously we can't just search Google Books for "paw" and expect to find lots of hits using the word in this way; we need to craft careful search queries that will bring uses in this sense to the fore. —Ruakh_TALK 00:52, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Or is this actually a sense of "paw off" rather than of "paw", as this page suggests? paw off (“to masturbate”) seems to be readily citeable from Usenet, with both transitive and intransitive uses: see [1] and [2] and [3], for example. —Ruakh_TALK 01:01, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Well if paw off seems like a better place to put this, and is more used than plain paw, that seems like an acceptable solution. I myself am not really good at making pages so I'll most likely stay away from trying until I learn more about that. If someone else made the page I could contribute at least. Or the other hand, making an entire page for something that could simply be one line on this page seems very silly, though the definition of pawing off could be greatly expanded beyond one line. Maybe it could have it's line here and links to the full definition. I have no idea I'm just splurting out ideas. AlexWolfx 02:45, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

excuse me not for being accustomed to wiktionary and discussions, but I just want to point out that ,for furry information,wikifur is a lot more credible than Urban Dictionary, and clearly this source proves the original assertion that paw was the word: http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Paw_(sexual)208.54.38.77 04:41, 11 December 2010 (UTC)InusaitoSayori

RFV

The following discussion has been moved from Wiktionary:Requests for verification.

This discussion is no longer live and is left here as an archive. Please do not modify this conversation, but feel free to discuss its conclusions.

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RFV-sense for the Verb sense "{{context|of a person whom is a member of the furry fandom}} To masturbate". Note the page history for the back-and-forth, and the talk page for a little discussion. I understand why the addition was repeatedly reverted as vandalism, but it does also seem plausible that the word would be used with this meaning in this context. Thus, I think the best approach to keep it for a month with this RFV tag and see if its proponents can cite it. — Beobach 23:29, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

paw off (“to masturbate, to masturbate oneself, to masturbate (someone), to masturbate someone”) is very easily attested from Usenet (though I'm not sure if each of the four subsenses is easily cited). But bare paw, I can't find. The form pawing sometimes appears in this sense without off, but as far as I can see, only as a gerund/noun (sometimes attributive; for example, google groups:"pawing material", meaning roughly "[furry] porn", gets one Usenet hit). That's not to say that a relevant verb paw can't be cited convincingly, but it doesn't look easy. And digging through furry erotica communities trying to cite this . . . well, it's not my idea of a good time. :-P   —Ruakh_TALK 04:10, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

I'm a furry myself and I can confirm that this sense is valid, I've heard it plenty of times. But I don't really feel like digging through such sources either... —CodeCat 10:17, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Hmm... move the sense to paw off, with a ===See also=== at paw? — Beobach 20:33, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

I searched for "pawed him", and while the results weren't furry, they do suggest we're missing a sexual sense. Urban Dictionary has "to touch someone in a sexual way without their consent" and "to touch someone too much, sexual or not". These suggest something in the middle, like "{{context|by extension, of a human}} to touch someone (with the hands) in a sexual way" (with or without their consent). It would belong under our existing "{{context|of an animal}} to gently push on something with a paw".

• August 17 1997, Robert Spector, in misc.fitness.weights:

  IronMan used to be good in this way, back in the '80s. [...] They wouldn't subscribe to the old, "Let's put a male bodybuilder with silicone babes pawing him" cover that's mainstay now.

• October 26 1997, Verbotene, quoted by Amy McWilliams, in rec.arts.tv.soaps.abc:

  So, Katherine was out with Luke and they were both quite dolled up and swoon-worthy. Katherine fawned all over Luke and pawed him, but to what end? Was Stefan supposed to believe that Luke and Katherine have some sort of a thing going? What was the point of this display from Katherine's perspective?

• July 18 2002, Lurker Dave, in rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe:

  Subtlety is great, but what exactly happened with Jessica and the cop during sex that he locked her up afterwards? Also, what was the item she nicked from his shirt while she pawed him?

— Beobach 20:33, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, surprised we don't have this; I'm familiar with it from books. Suggests unwelcome fondling by an inept would-be lover, e.g. among teenagers. Not a "furry" term in this sense, and not masturbation. The response might be "Get your hands off me!" Equinox ◑ 20:41, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

I have removed the unattested sense of "paw" (RFV-failed without prejudice), added the attested sense of "paw", and created "paw off". - -sche (discuss) 05:36, 9 August 2011 (UTC)