three-seventeen?

[Erin McKean]

someone has written me asking about a slang meaning for
"three-seventeen" or "3-17" in this context:

>I was watching Shipmates last night, and
>the male dater used the phrase "three seventeen" a couple times.  First,
>when he jumped off a boat into the water, he yelled "3-17!"  Then later, he
>said that he was looking forward to "getting my 3-17 on."  The host of the
>show commented on this and said that he thought it was a veiled reference
>to St. Patrick's Day.  At first I thought it was some weird bible thing,
>but the guy didn't seem like the type.


The only (weird Bible) thing I could find was this:

Colossians three seventeen says "And whatever ye do in word or deed, do all in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him"

Although it seems odd for a TV dating show (which I think Shipmates
is, although I haven't seen it). I did a quick google and looked in
the ADS archives, but no luck. I might not have done a good job;
searching for numbers is tricky. (However, it seems that
three-seventeen is a very popular time in fan fiction.)

--Erin