A booty call is a telephone call, other communication, or visitation made with the sole intent of engaging in sex with the person being contacted. Traditionally this phenomenon, especially the term booty call, is associated with a person calling another person for a sexual encounter after having already established either a casual or more serious relationship involving sexual relations.
In most instances, a booty call is made when the prospect of a traditional romantic date is highly unlikely (e.g., late in the evening, after midnight or in the pre-dawn hours), thus making it obvious that the intent of the call is for the sole purpose of obtaining and engaging in sexual intercourse.
The phrase originated in a comedic routine by stand-up comedian Bill Bellamy in the early 1990s. It is used by persons of either gender, and many ethnicities, to request sexual favors by calling an acquaintance that may or may not be romantically linked to the caller. Booty calls can be used by one partner of an ended relationship to obtain sex from the ex-partner, due to lingering emotions and feelings of a need for continued physical connection, without feeling compelled to continue dating that person. This aforementioned phenomenon is also called “ex sex.”
The term itself is more likely to be used by the person answering the call or others in his/her company than the person making the call. For example, “Did John take off?”, “Yeah, he had to answer a booty call.” It is not considered derisive.
Although traditionally the telephone is used for a booty call, the last ten years have seen the rise of IM, chat, e-mail, and text message booty calling.
