Originally Posted by
rsbob
I prefer the Flintstone variety. Yaba daba dooooooo!
It appears, by looking at the definition, that ‘intimate’ is most commonly characterized as, “characterized by a close or warm personal relationship”. Sex ranks way down the list. Can’t say that I have a warm or personal relationship, other than a utilitarian, with my bikes. But then I am not a romantic. And to quote Jerry Seinfeld, “ Not that I have a problem with that.”
"Intimate" is an interesting word, and I think the trend is increasingly towards using it as a euphemism for "sexual". Even in its nonsexual sense, I do think it's a very weird word choice as I think "intimacy" really has to be a two-way thing and a utilitarian object can't reciprocate.
There's another sense of the word "intimate" as an adjective as in "He has intimate knowledge of the details", but one wouldn't describe that person as being intimate with the details or the knowledge. There's no sense of a personal relationship in that usage. I don't think there's a sentence where "intimacy" can be used that way.