What do the words slash and yaoi mean?

What does yaoi really mean? I’ve never really thought about it before, but recently I read an article about it, and I realized that it’s a sort of acronym. It means (translated from Japanese to English) ‘no climax, no punchline, no meaning’. That means the same as a PWP story – plot? what plot? – in other words, it’s all just a sketch of two hot guys having sex with each other). Apparently, there’s also a more humorous interpretation, which means – in translation – Stop! My butt hurts!. Whoever made that up clearly hasn’t read too much slash… Pain is never a reason to stop…

I just realized that the word slash might not have been explained clearly. Slash is a / which stands for pairing. For some reason, slash just means a male/male pairing, though you can always use a / to indicate which pairing you’re writing about, even if it’s a het adult story. Femslash has been formed from the original slash. An early example of slash is what fans call K/S that is Kirk/Spock. They’re from Star Trek TOS (The Original Series) in case you’ve never heard of the two gentlemen. You’d never refer to a Kirk/Uhura or a Spock/Chapel story as slash. I have no idea why.

Besides, it’s also being said – though I don’t believe it – that slash usually is a sexually explicit story. There are all kinds of slash, including some which doesn’t even contain a kiss. The point is simply that two men (or boys) love each other. They don’t have to do anything about it, just feel that way. I even think unrequited love falls under the same heading.