hand job

[ hand job ]

noun

, Slang: Usually Vulgar.

1. an act of masturbation, especially as performed by a sexual partner on a man.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hand job¹

First recorded in 1935–40

About This Word

What does hand job mean?

A hand job is a sexual act in which one person uses their hand to stimulate another person’s genitals.

Content warning: the following content includes references to sexual activity.

How do you pronounce hand job?

[ hand job ]

Where does hand job come from?

Though the act is ancient, the term hand job appears to be the oldest member of the sexual job family, which also includes the oral blow job and more fetishistic foot job. Hand job involves bringing a man to climax … with your hand.

Green’s Dictionary of Slang first finds the term in U.S. author Pietro di Donato’s 1939 novel Christ in Concrete. The term has since spread far and wide in slang speech and writing, from its use as an internet pornography tag to its reference in popular films, like 2007’s Superbad, where Seth (Jonah Hill) memorably jokes: “No one has gotten a hand job in cargo shorts since ‘Nam.”

As Superbad helps point out, hand jobs are often associated with young adult’s first sexual experiences. They are also associated with foreplay and sometimes with stealthier sexual acts in public places.

Getting a hand job at the end of an erotic massage is called a happy ending. The female equivalent of a hand job is called fingering.

Who uses hand job?

Hand jobs are not appropriate for polite company—the act or the word.

While often featured in pornographic content, hand job, in large part because of its association with the sexual naiveté of younger people, is sometimes a punchline in popular comedies. Indeed, in the 1980s, hand job also was extended as slang for an obnoxious person, like a tool or douchebag, probably based on the implication that a hand job is seen as less desirable than the real thing.

A word to the wise, if you see any combination of a Fist, Eggplant, and Sweat Droplets emoji (👊🍆💦), it might be about a hand job.

Finally, sometimes people think they’re being clever when they refer to manual labor as hand jobs.

My hand job🔨🚪.Make your home better pic.twitter.com/zpuZJhwIyW

— Chima (@chimaco88) May 21, 2018

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.