three-seventeen?

[Catherine Aman]

Re: 3/17

(from Blue Tigers Web site):

"Delta Troop was a cavalry reconnaissance troop that served in Vietnam from
October 1967 to April 1972. Our parent organization, the 3rd Squadron/17th
Air Cavalry, was an independent air cavalry squadron. The squadron, and even
its component troops and platoons, served with many different combat
brigades and divisions on temporary assignment."

Perhaps a reference to this air unit or its upcoming reunion?

Or perhaps police radio shorthand (like "10-90") as used on pagers by kids?

Or perhaps an area code (it's Indiana) reference to some festival, trip,
etc?

> ----------
> From:         Erin McKean
> Reply To:     American Dialect Society
> Sent:         Friday, July 19, 2002 3:45 PM
> To:   ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject:      three-seventeen?
>
> 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
>
>