I certainly agree that glottal stops are probably a hugely widespread sex-sound. As to whether they're universal, I can't say one way or the other. However, from my own experience of Arabic, I think that the voiceless pharyngeal fricative (a breathy "h" sound produced low in the throat) is a widespread "orgasmic phoneme" for similar reasons as you put forward for the glottal stop (and I am by no means suggesting that Semitic speakers have any shortage of glottal stops in addition). The voiceless pharyngeal fricative indeed also occurs in a number of words that immediately seem to take on a sexual dimension from the presence of this phoneme (especially when it is played up for effect): "istiraHa" (relaxation [not infrequently as a euphemism accompanied by a knowing wink!]), "Habibi" (darling), "maHbub" (lover), etc.headbang8 said:One of the reasons this lesson was so funny was that the sounds were not completely unfamiliar, even if the students didn't use them in speech. The glottal stop seems to be a universal sex noise.
Think about it. If you moan (a protracted vowel sound) you sometimes stop the flow of air abruptly as tension and pleasure builds, and then release it with another moan, ususally at a lower pitch. Especially for women--it's a classic sign that she's reaching a climax, no?
As a sudden, abrupt expulsion of air from the lungs passing over the pharynx in an unvoiced way, it is not difficult to imagine how easily this sound may come into play during moments of extreme breathiness during sex and at orgasm. But be sure that I mean this as a complement to the glottal stop, and not as an alternative.
My overly-wordy description of this trait of many English speakers was not without reason; the substitution of a glottal stop for the letter "t" is present in a much wider array of British accents than simply Cockney, including (but by no means limited to) Estuary, Geordie and Mancunian.I find "some British speakers of English who drop their "t" in speech"--that is, Cockneys--incredibly sexy. They sound really primal, animal, physical.