What is the nuance and feeling of the expression 愛の営みをする? If //itonami is a noun meaning: work; life, then is a literary way of saying "to make love" ? What feel does this expression have? Does it sound perfunctory or passionate? to make love to to make passionate love to

I would say that is indeed literary speech. The feel is similar to "to make love", which is certainly the best translation. I understand it to be neither particularly passionate, nor perfunctory, but factual. The phrase can be changed in the following way, making it more and more suited for conversation:

* (practically not used in conversation)
*
* []{}
* (sometimes used in conversation)



The top of the list would be more likely to come up in a conversation with your grandma, who wants to understand the chances of her seeing her great-grandchildren. The bottom might come up in a conversation with your boss, seeing that you have been acting discouraged for a while and enquiring how things are going between you and your wife.

In conversation amongst younger people, "to sleep (with)" or "to do it" are more common, just like in English, I would say.