# back gammon player

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/back-gammon-player
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A person, chiefly a homosexual, who has anal sex.

## Examples

- He is a back gammon player.
- Does he know that you are a back gammon player?
- My neighbor is a back gammon player and lives with his partner.
- The man was open about being a back gammon player in his personal life.
- The older man whispered the slang term to his friend to find out if the stranger was a back gammon player.
- In that specific neighborhood, people often use the phrase back gammon player to describe someone's private habits.
- The historian explained that in the past, men used the coded term back gammon player to identify each other without alerting the police or the public.
- The author explores the life of a back gammon player navigating the social norms of the era.

## Origin

Probably a 19th-century pun on the board game, the term relies on the double meaning of backside and gammon, the latter being the lower or hind part of a side of bacon. The wordplay situates the term within the context of anal sex. The derivation remains unproven, though the linguistic link between the cured meat and the human anatomy provides the likely mechanism for the association. (disputed)

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.