<p>This study investigates how the Bette-Obudu people of northern Cross River State, south-eastern Nigeria employ euphemistic and dysphemistic expressions to articulate their perspectives about sexual intercourse. Qualitative data were elicited through semi-structured interviews and informal interactions from thirty purposively selected male participants. Data were analysed using Charteris-Black’s critical metaphor analysis, which accounts for the sociocultural influence of ideology and lopsided power relations which are communicated through metaphorical constructions. Apart from functioning as linguistic means of introducing politeness and mitigating the potential danger of tabooed sexual expressions, rural Bette men use euphemistic expressions, especially dysphemism, to metaphorically conceptualise sexual intercourse as a war between men and women, as well as a sociocultural site for the expression of male power. Also, the study accounts for how the people’s euphemistic construction of sexual intercourse emanates from and anchors on their understanding of their sociocultural orientations and how these orientations interface with their sociosexual experiences. This study enriches understanding of the culture-language interface and the cultural gendering of sexual intercourse.</p>