BDSM is a collective term for a group of sexual preferences, which are often more vaguely referred to as sadomasochism (SM or Sado-Maso for short). The term encompasses a group of mostly sexual behaviors that can be related to dominance and submission, playful punishment, and pleasure pain or bondage, among other things. "BDSM" is a multi-layered acronym formed from the first letters of the English terms "Bondage & Discipline, Dominance & Submission, Sadism & Masochism." The term first emerged on the Internet in the 1990s and is now also used in scientific literature.