Dating in the Dark

[Joel S. Berson]

At 11/24/2009 10:49 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>At 2:18 AM -0500 11/24/09, Wilson Gray wrote:
>>When I was stationed in Berlin in the '60's, I used to hear white GI's say:
>>
>>"It's *all* pink on the inside."
>>
>>Times were such that this struck me as being evidence of a
>>refreshingly-liberal attitude toward race.
>>
>>-Wilson
>
>Here too, as with the "all cats are gray" adage below, I think the
>key concept is not "indecisive" as much as "indiscriminative".

The dark may be adiscriminative, but the daters (I disclaim
pejorativity) may be forced into indecisiveness.  How is a dater to
distinguish the person of the opposite gender (John Cleese had some
apropos line in "Fawlty Towers") who most appeals to
him/her?  (Speaking purely of appearance, of course.  Or do all cats
also sound alike in the dark?)

Joel


>LH
>
>>On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 8:26 PM, Laurence Horn
>><laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>-----------------------
>>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>  Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>>  Subject:      Re: Dating in the Dark
>>>
>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>  At 4:54 PM -0500 11/23/09, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>>>>At 11/23/2009 12:31 PM, ronbutters at AOL.COM wrote:
>>>>>The practice goes back to Ancient Greece. I believe it was Socrates
>>>>>who said (rough translation), "When the lights are out, all women
>>>>>and most guys are sexy hot"!
>>>>
>>>>For every adage, one can find its contradiction.  "In the dark, all
>>>>cats are gray."  Dating in the Dark must be ideal for the indecisive.
>>>>
>>>>Joel
>>>
>>>  I was thinking of that one too in connection with the new dating
>>>  craze about whose existence Jon enlightened (or endarkened) us.  But
>>>  I don't read the "all cats are gray" adage as a negative and thus a
>>>  contradictory of the phenomena under consideration here--it's more
>>>  like a way of emphasizing the lack of any differentiating principle,
>>>  hence consistent with the goal of the social gatherings mentioned
>>>  below.  If all are gray, one's as lovely as another.  (Grope-a-hope?)
>>>  It's also used to urge against judging a book by its cover, on the
>>>  theory that inner beauty (or at least the outer feel of that cover
>>>  with eyes wide shut) is what counts, and hence precisely that it's
>>>  better, in the words of the master, to "interact at a more profound
>>>  level than mere appearances".
>>>
>>>  Then, of course, there's the related principle of "beer goggles", and
>>>  country songs to the same effect, but that's more a matter of
>>>  threshold than parameter setting.
>>>
>>>  LH
>>>>
>>>>>------Original Message------
>>>>>From: Laurence Horn
>>>>>Sender: ADS-L
>>>>>To: ADS-L
>>>>>ReplyTo: ADS-L
>>>>>Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Dating in the Dark
>>>>>Sent: Nov 23, 2009 11:20 AM
>>>>>
>>>>>At 7:55 AM -0500 11/23/09, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>>>>>CNN ran a story today on "Dating in the Dark," a social event at which
>>>>>>singles mingle in pitch blackness so they'll interact at a more profound
>>>>>>level than mere appearances. Outside, they see who's who.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>At the bottom of the screen appeared a panel reading "Grope-A-Dope."
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Which is the real message of this post.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>JL
>>>>>>--
>>>>>
>>>>>I've heard about parties like that, except for the "outside" part.
>>>>>Maybe those are the "Ignorance is Bliss" parties.
>>>>>
>>>>>LH
>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>>>>>
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>>
>>
>>--
>>-Wilson
>>---
>>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"--a strange complaint to
>>come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>>-Mark Twain
>>
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