The 15 things you should NEVER say in bed (including using the wrong name and telling them to hurry up)

  • Talking about sex frankly is important - but be careful what you say
  • Tracey Cox advises on some of the things that should never pass your lips
  • Includes playing on your phone and saying someone should exercise 

Talking about sex is something every couple should do but there are some things that should never, ever escape your lips – especially during the heat of the moment.

Hands up who's ever said the wrong thing in bed – or been on the receiving end of any of these sexual clangers?

Read on for the 15 things that shouldn't be said between the sheets. So how many are you guilty of? 

Scroll down for video 

Using someone else's name or referencing an ex between the sheets never ends well

Using someone else's name or referencing an ex between the sheets never ends well

1. Yes, yes, yes, Alexander!

Nothing wrong with this if your partner's name is Alexander but if it's John, it's not going to go down too well.

Eighty per cent of couples fantasise about someone else when having sex with their partner.

Rather sensibly, most of us don't feel the need to confess that we've mentally transformed our partner into our latest lust crush (Alexander Skarsgard in a teensy loin cloth in The Legend of Tarzan, for instance).

Having a fantasy playing in your head is a normal and quite effective way to perk up sex with someone you've slept with many, many times before.

But blurting out the wrong name in the heat of the moment will guarantee a big row rather than a big O.

2. My ex used to love this

This is one of those 'I'm amazing in bed' boasts that never really works.

Who cares what your ex liked?

He or she probably had completely different sexual taste to us.

Even if they didn't, do we really want the image of you in bed with someone else planted in our heads?

We all like to think that our partner's were delivered to us in zip-lock plastic bags, untouched by others.

Another pleasant illusion is that they definitely never loved or lusted after anyone as much as they do us.

Positive sexual talk of exes destroys all of this and most of us prefer to stay deluded, thanks very much.

Tracey Cox warns how to give feedback to your partner so you don't end up causing offence by accident

Tracey Cox warns how to give feedback to your partner so you don't end up causing offence by accident

3. Not like that

Along with 'What are you doing?' any less than encouraging comments about technique sabotage the best sex session.

I'm all for feedback and letting your partner know what you want but there's a time, a place and a way of doing it.

Unless you've both agreed that this particular session is all about 'training' each other in what you want, you'll generally get much further talking nitty-gritty specifics out of bed.

4. Is it in yet?

A no-no for the glaringly obvious reason of insinuating he's not very big, those three words decimate a man's sexual confidence instantly and swiftly.

More than 90 per cent of men worry about their penis size – which is why this tops the list for him.

But there's an equally as ego-destroying flipside, if he says it to her.

Sure, you haven't been doing your kegel exercises that regularly but surely he can't possibly mean...

5. Surprise!

Some surprises are great (you walk in after a boring Monday to find the place candlelit, a bottle of champagne chilled and glass poured and your partner naked and artfully arranged on the rug).

Others are not (you walk in after a boring Monday to find your partner and his best friend artfully arranged on the rug waiting to indulge that threesome fantasy you once drunkenly confessed to).

'Mild' sexy treats (lingerie, a new sex toy, a tie-up game) are usually welcomed but anything else ('extreme' sex toys - use your imagination - and surprise destinations like a lap-dancing club or swingers party) should be discussed and decided on together.

6. Can you hurry up?

Translation: let's get this over with.

Sex is supposed to be enjoyable, something you linger over and don't want to end not something you rush through.

Insulting no matter how you look at it.

7. You really do need to get back to the gym

Yes people do really say things like this.

Witness this classics that was emailed to me.

'There we were, basking in the afterglow of the best sex we'd had in ages, when my husband said, 'You know you asked me if you'd put on weight? Well, you have a bit'.

Or this one: 'I was on top of her and she reached up and squeezed my biceps and said, 'What happened to these?'.

Tracey says that asking someone insistently about their orgasm will never go will - and might even stop your partner from having one

Tracey says that asking someone insistently about their orgasm will never go will - and might even stop your partner from having one

'I don't mind criticism but does it have to be in the middle of sex?'

Body confidence issues affect both sexes and never are we more vulnerable than naked in bed.

8. Are they real?

Even if her breasts aren't moving at all in that very energetic position, now is not the time to ask whether she bought them.

9. What's wrong? Don't you fancy me?

There are a myriad of reasons why men don't get erections on cue and him not fancying you is one of the least likely.

More likely is he's drunk, stressed or tired - or fancies you too much and is worried like mad he's not going to perform well.

Either way, making a big deal of it makes the situation worse.

10. You can't stop now!

A favourite of teenage boys, who claimed their testicles would change colour if a girl didn't 'finish them off', this is still dragged out today.

Sure, ideally, you'd both end up feeling sated and satisfied after every sex session.

But real life isn't like that.

Sometimes one person feels like sex more than the other, their partner agrees to give it a try but just can't get into it.

If that happens, the courteous thing to do is be happy your partner at least tried to get in the mood and look after yourself.

(That's assuming this doesn't happen every single time, of course.

If it's the norm that your partner selfishly satisfies themself – without giving a hoot about you - that's a different story altogether.)

11. What, that's it?

Up there with, 'Is it in yet?', you suggesting the sex was over way too quickly is one of his biggest fears.

Even if you think it, don't speak it.

Besides, even if the entire session lasted under five minutes, him having an orgasm doesn't mean you have to stop making love.

There's more than one way to give a woman an orgasm – and intercourse is actually the least effective.

12. I just need to take this call/answer this text

One in five people say they've done this during sex.

But unless someone you know and love is ill, it really is an emergency or you're waiting for a confirmation call from the lottery, interrupting sex to play on your smart phone effectively says 'This is far more interesting to me than having sex with you'.

13. Have you had an orgasm yet?

Nothing, but nothing, can delay her orgasm more than him popping his head up expectantly and asking, 'Are you done yet?'

Every time he stops stimulation, she slides back down the arousal scale: so if you really do want her to hurry up, stay put!

Hurrying someone towards orgasm accomplishes completely the opposite psychologically as well.

If you're worrying your partner is getting bored, you're hardly in the head space for enjoying what's happening to you.

14. Are you sure you had an orgasm?

 You don't have to agree to do everything your partner suggests but do think twice before pronouncing them 'weird'

Aka 'Did you just fake it?'

Thing is, some orgasms are obvious, others aren't.

Even with men – generally easier to spot - they vary. Some involve lots of thrashing about and grinding of teeth, other times there's a tiny sigh of satisfaction and that's it.

Was it fake or was it simply a less intense version than normal?

If you're looking for reassurance that they enjoyed the sex, ask for that instead.

If you genuinely think they faked it, make it clear you don't expect they will have an orgasm every single time and they won't feel the need to pretend in future.

15. You're perverted!

You don't have to agree to do everything your partner suggests but do think twice before pronouncing them 'weird', 'kinky' or suggesting they 'get help' (unless of course the request really is out there, in which case go right ahead!).

Remember, what we fancy sexually is simply a matter of individual taste.

We all have different palates - one person prefers savoury, the other sweet.

No-one's right or wrong.

Visit traceycox.com for Tracey's product range and more practical information on sex, love and relationships.

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