Glossary
Stracciatella
Mostly vanilla, with a piece of kink here and there. The scene joke about who sits in between.
What is stracciatella?
Stracciatella is a Dutch scene joke for someone who isn’t fully vanilla but wouldn’t call themselves a BDSMer either. The name comes from the ice cream: vanilla shot through with chocolate flakes, so mostly plain, with a bit of kink here and there. There is no English equivalent.
| English term | none; it’s a Dutch scene joke with no English counterpart |
| Category | scene slang with a wink |
| Plays on | vanilla, the scene word for not-kinky |
| Spelling | with a double c, exactly like the ice cream, not straciatella |
| Origin of the word | the ice cream stracciatella, from the Italian stracciare, to tear |
| Source | a joke from the scene, not a dictionary or academic entry |
Where the word stracciatella comes from
From an ice cream, and from a pun.
Stracciatella means something like little shred in Italian. The ice cream with that name was invented in Bergamo in 1961, a creamy vanilla base with thin pieces of chocolate running through it. The word goes back, according to Wiktionary, to stracciare, to tear or pull to pieces. The scene picked up that image: mostly vanilla, with pieces of kink running through. Hence the double c too, just like the ice cream.
How the joke is used
Mostly with a wink, and about yourself.
Stracciatella isn’t a serious role but a way of saying you like a bit of an edge without needing the whole toolbox. Anyone who calls themselves that sits somewhere between vanilla and the scene, and doesn’t make a big thing of it. Don’t read too much into it. It’s a joke and not an identity, and tomorrow that same person might see it a little differently again.
Where this fits on this site
If you recognize yourself in that ‘a bit, not everything’, you don’t have to pin a label on anything to try something out. The page on the BDSM date explains how I build up a first time calmly, exactly as light or as firm as you want.
Sources
There is no academic literature and no dictionary entry for stracciatella as a scene word. It’s a joke. What can be backed up is where the word itself comes from.
- Stracciatella (ice cream). Wikipedia. Gives the description of the ice cream as a creamy base with thin chocolate flakes, the meaning ‘little shred’, and the origin in Bergamo in 1961.
- stracciatella. Wiktionary. Gives the derivation from stracciato, the past participle of stracciare (to tear, to pull to pieces), with the diminutive suffix -ella.
Related terms
Stracciatella plays on the idea of vanilla; the pages below are about the words the joke hangs between.
- Vanilla. The scene word for not-kinky, exactly the side stracciatella mostly belongs to.
- Kinky. The other side: off the beaten path, what those pieces of chocolate stand for.
- Kink. The broad term for a preference that strays from the ordinary.
- Experimentalist. Someone who likes to try something new without building their whole life around it.
- Fifty shades effect. The reason a bit of kink has become a lot more ordinary in recent years.
- Kink discovery. Figuring out what draws you, which stracciatella is a lighthearted midpoint of.
Frequently asked questions
What people still ask about stracciatella.
What does stracciatella mean in the scene?
Stracciatella is a Dutch scene joke for someone who isn’t fully vanilla but wouldn’t call themselves a BDSMer either. Just like the ice cream: mostly vanilla, with a bit of kink running through here and there.
Why is it called stracciatella?
Because the ice cream stracciatella is vanilla with chocolate flakes through it, and that image fits exactly. The word comes from the Italian stracciare, to tear. Hence the double c too, just like the ice cream.
Is stracciatella a real BDSM term?
No, stracciatella is a joke, not a serious role or identity. There is no dictionary and no academic source for the scene meaning. You don’t have to see yourself in it, and anyone who uses it mostly does so with a wink.
Who can you turn to with questions about stracciatella?
Victor, a gigolo with twenty-five years of experience in BDSM and a background as a psychotherapist. If you sit between vanilla and the scene, you don’t have to count yourself as anything to try something. You can ask him a question with no obligation through the contact form or chat for free first.
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Still have questions about stracciatella?
I'm Victor. Do you sit between vanilla and the scene and want to try something without signing up for anything? Send me a message. No obligation, and I'll message you back whenever suits you.