Dictionary definition of “sweet in the pants”

sweet in the pants

adj. effeminate or homosexual. Subjects: English, Gay, Sex & Sexuality, Derogatory, Slang

Editorial Note: This term is an extended variant of sweet with the same meaning. A few citations exist that seem to use sweet in the pants to mean “cool, good, sexy,” but the usage is uncertain. Thanks to Cowboy Sally for the tip.

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Citations: [1998 [Meat Purveyors] Sweet in the Pants (Austin, Texas): (album title)] 1998 [TDOG69] Usenet: alt.rock-n-roll.moderated.crue (July 3) “Re: Pathetic Cruefans <smootch>”: I thought he might have been a Lil sweet in the pants. 1999 [Redclay 6] Usenet: rec.arts.poems (July 20) “Re: The Thoughts of Genghis Khan”: If i din know better, id swear you was sweet in the pants. 2003 Mike Innocenzi Vitriolic Spree (Chicago, Illinois) (May 23) “Runnin’ the ball is like makin’ romance”: There’s something touching about a professional athlete who’s not afraid to fall in love publicly. I’m not gonna’ get all sweet in the pants or anything, but this story is totally sweet in the pants…on an intellectual level. 2004 Petra E. Woodard Incomplete Denial (Jan. 1) p. 87: If he’s got an ounce of testosterone in him he’d have thought of something once he saw you. If not, then either he’s sweet in the pants or he just needs some advice from an old pro. 2005 [Papillon] Usenet: alt.fan.gene-scott (Mar. 11) “Re: Nominations for Additions to Pastoral Staff”: “Why would that matter if Elder was “sweet in the pants’?” “Well it wouldn’t actually matter. I was just curious if his hostility toward Doc’s congregation was motivated by the sometimes-true sometimes-false belief among homosexuals that Christians hate gays.” 2006 [Cowboy Sally] Number One Hit Song (New York City) (May 30) “To is a preposition, come is a verb, Part II”: I’m almost certain that one of them…was actually transgendered. (Lentz might disagree with me on this, but he’s naturally a bit sweet in the pants, so there you go.)

Posted 1 Jun 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

Okay, now, I KNOW this is an old phrase. Hell, my grandparents used it to describe gay males.

by Marcia Wyatt 06 Jun 06, 1111 GMT

Yeah, but can you show me old in-print citations for it? That’s one of the reasons this site exists: there are plenty of old terms that just never somehow made it into a dictionary. So we’re off to gather them as best we can and try and trace them a little ways back towards their origins. Unfortunately, remembering a term from a period isn’t really good enough (since memories are too fallible and also because it’s hard to differentiate between the people who honestly do remember and those that just say they do--and I believe the latter category outnumbers the former), except as a guide for knowing what period of print publications should be searched.

by Grant Barrett 06 Jun 06, 1117 GMT

i thought this term refered to someone who was gifted in bed….

by sarah 09 Jun 06, 0243 GMT