S.E.X. from A to Z

Birth control: Until 1979, the Irish prohibited importation and sale of contraceptives.

Corn flakes: John Harvey Kellogg touted eating corn flakes as a way to suppress sexual urges.

Dowry deaths: In India, thousands of women have been killed in engineered "accidents" by husbands angry about inadequate marriage gifts from in-laws.

Excuse me: Direct reference to the need for a toilet is considered impolite in Russia.

First time: A 1996 survey of Hong Kong men found that 10 percent had their first sexual experience with a prostitute.

Go, already: Increasingly, financially established single Italian men called "mammoni" are continuing to live with their parents into their 30s, 40s and beyond.

Homosexuality: Though it's now decriminalized in Austria, 13,000 people were convicted of "unnatural fornication" between 1950 and 1971.

Incest: In a study of prostitutes in South Korea, 90 percent said they were victims of incest or had been sexually abused by members of their family.

Japanese comics: "Manga,'' a popular form of comics in Japan, includes a sexually charged subgenre called "redikomi," drawn by women for female readers.

Kissing: The traditional Tahitian/Polynesian kiss (ho'i) consisted of mutual sniffing and rubbing of noses.

Lesbians: Most lesbians in Greek Cyprus are married to men and maintain heterosexual-style families away from their female lovers.

Masturbation: There are many negative terms in the Icelandic language for masturbation, including "self-pollution" (sjalfsflekkun).

Night crawling: Found in various forms throughout Polynesia, "night crawling" is when a young man sneaks into the house of a young woman for sex without her parents finding out.

Older efforts: There is a saying "Forty, fat and finished" in Denmark, where the sex lives of older people are often depicted as disgusting.

Prostitution: In Israel, prostitution is not illegal, but soliciting is.

Quality control: In Italy, the first sexual experience is ranked positively by 48.7 percent of males and by 38.6 percent of females.

Ritual brother: Among the Banaro of Papua New Guinea every male has a "ritual brother" who is allowed sexual access to his wife.

Space: A device has been patented, the "Belt to Paradise," to enable sex in microgravity.

TTurnabout: It has been estimated that one in 10 Australian men has worn women's clothes.

Uncalled for: In Egypt, where plumpness traditionally defines female beauty, an insult is to call a skinny woman a "rusty needle.''

Voyeurism: Male Iranian voyeurs have been known to don all-concealing veils usually worn by women in order to sneak into female enclaves or bathhouses.

Working women: 84 percent of women in the labor force in Spain say they have suffered some type of sexual harassment on the job.

X-rated: One Australian state does not permit adult films to be shown on Sundays.

Your parts: Some 70 percent of Ukrainian children ages 6 to 8 were found to be unable to identify the right words for genitalia.

Zoophilia: Some Tanzanians believe that having sexual relations with animals will increase their luck.