blanket hornpipe

Why does 'blanket hornpipe' refer to have sex? Thanks!

One of the most popular and successful types of humor is referring to something taboo by very indirect, almost polite terms. This was noticed by Cicero:

Haec enim ridentur vel sola vel maxime quae notant et designant turpitudinem aliquam non turpiter.

So, a hornpipe is a sailor's song and dance, and doing this under a blanket sounds rather cute and almost polite, and the reader is struck by the comical antithesis between the form and content of the expression -- one respects social graces and the other does not.

Hello konungursvia,

Thank you for your reply. What does the Latin words of Cicero's mean?

"What amuses people to the maximum level is a turpitude disclosed in terms that are not themselves vulgar." It's from De Oratore.

Thank you for your reply.