# CP: corporal punishment between adults > CP is the British abbreviation for corporal punishment: consensual physical discipline between adults. What it signals in UK ads, forums and profiles. - Canonical URL: https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/cp/ - Section: A–Z - Updated: November 2026 (2026-11-01) - Audience: consenting adults over 18 only. Everything on this site concerns consenting adults over 18. Two letters that appear in almost every British contact ad on this subject. They mean corporal punishment, and what they usually signal is the formal, disciplinary end of things rather than affectionate spanking. --- ## In short - CP is the common British abbreviation for [corporal punishment](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/corporal-punishment/). - It signals a disciplinary frame: a stated reason, a number of strokes, an implement, a formal position. - English CP is used as a genre label for the formal British domestic tradition specifically. - It is an adult, consensual term, used between consenting adults over 18. Everything here concerns consenting adults over 18. ## What it means CP is corporal punishment, shortened. It has been the standard abbreviation in British contact magazines, then forums, then FetLife profiles, for long enough that most people using it have never thought about the full phrase. If you see it in an ad, the person means consensual physical discipline between adults. You will also see "English CP" or "traditional CP" used as a genre label. That denotes the specifically British version: domestic settings, the tawse and the cane, formal language, counting, and a great deal of ceremony around fetching the implement. The [corporal punishment](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/corporal-punishment/) entry covers what that actually involves. ## In practice The abbreviation carries a flavour worth reading correctly. Someone who describes what they want as spanking is usually picturing something warmer and more domestic: over the knee, by hand, some affection either side of it. Someone who writes CP is usually picturing something cooler and more formal: bent over a desk, a stated number of strokes, a flat voice and no cuddling until afterwards. That is a generalisation and people mean different things by it, which is why the useful move in any conversation is to ask what a session would actually look like from the moment you walk in. Two people can both write CP in a profile and want evenings with almost nothing in common. In UK listings it usually sits beside other shorthand: OTK for over the knee, DD for domestic discipline, F/m or M/f for who is doing what to whom, and TTWD, meaning this thing we do, for the whole subject. None of that vocabulary is standardised and all of it is worth checking rather than assuming. ## What people assume Newcomers frequently assume the abbreviation conceals something explicit. It does not. It is shorthand for a long phrase, nothing more, and much of what goes under the heading is not sexual at all. The other error runs the opposite way: assuming everybody knows the term. Outside the scene almost nobody does, and the letters have several unrelated meanings elsewhere. If you are writing a profile aimed at people new to this, write the words out. ## Read next - [Corporal punishment](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/corporal-punishment/) - [TTWD](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/ttwd/) - [OTK](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/otk/) - [Finding a partner in the UK](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/uk/finding-a-partner/) ## Common questions ### What does CP mean in spanking ads? CP is the standard British abbreviation for corporal punishment: consensual physical discipline between adults, usually within a disciplinary frame rather than as pure sensation play. Someone advertising CP is generally signalling an interest in formal punishment scenes with implements such as the strap, slipper or cane. ### What is the difference between CP and spanking? Spanking is the broader word and usually implies the hand and something warmer and more affectionate. CP implies a disciplinary structure: a stated reason, a number of strokes, a formal position and an implement. The two overlap heavily, and plenty of people use both words for the same evening, but CP is the more formal of the two.