"Unicorn, Unicorn!"

By Anthea Levi
January 23, 2018

For those who like to take risks in bed, it's essential to have a safe word—a predetermined term you and your partner agree to use to signal that whatever sexual activity you're doing is approaching the edge of your comfort zone. So let’s say you and your SO are all about playing rough. When you start to feel weird or experience more pain than pleasure, you can utter your safe word to dial things back or stop the action.

While safe words are a critical component of consensual sex, you'd think that every couple would choose a term that was outrageous or unique. Not exactly, according to a new survey of the most popular safe words. While some unusual ones made the survey results list (like "platypus," "Skywalker," and "care package"), the most common safe words had to do with colors, fruit, and a mythical creature. 

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According to the survey of 1,300 adults conducted by the UK sex toy brand Lovehoney, the number one safe word is "red," followed by "pineapple," "banana" (okay, that makes sense), "orange," and "peach," in that order. Rounding out the top 10 are "apple," "vanilla," "yellow," "blue," and "unicorn." 

Other stranger terms that landed near the top of the list included sea cucumber (yes, really), bubbles, and umbrella. Interestingly, "Donald Trump" also made the tail end of the results; two survey respondents replied that the name of the current president of the United States was their safe word. Go figure.