# 50 Shades of Grey **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113 "2012-08-20T23:34:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/1 "2012-08-20T23:34:23Z")
What is the origin or meaning of the title? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![ClevelandProud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@ClevelandProud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ClevelandProud)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/2 "2012-08-20T23:51:09Z")
Internet search on: “Fifty shades of grey” +meaning - \*Think of “black” and bad, and “white” as good. So depending on how much “black” you mix with “white”, you will get “different shades of grey” = different mixtures of good and bad. \* - and - This is a phrase that is used when there is no definite standard, boundary, or answer. There is a common phrase in English: "There is no black or white answer.” Black and White can represent Yes and No, Right and Wrong, Left and Right, or any two opposing sides to a conflict or answer. When something is said to be grey/gray, it means that the distinction between two or more things is hard to understand; as if the definite “black and white” have became merged and blurred to create a “grey.” > **[many shades of grey...](https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/many-shades-of-grey.96157/)** > > It is an intricate religious, nationalist and ideological conflict with many shades of grey. > > What does the phrase, "many shades of grey" mean? ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/3 "2012-08-21T00:22:39Z")
I haven’t read the book, but the first thing that springs to mind for me in the [hanky code](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handkerchief_code), in which grey = bondage. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/4 "2012-08-21T01:11:46Z")
I presume the OP is also asking about the number. I don’t know the answer, but [Forty Shades of Green](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty_Shades_of_Green) is an old Irish (?) song. Forty/40 Shades of Blue is also a song by Black 47 and a movie with Rip Torn. The former is almost certainly taken from the song, I don’t know about the film. Maybe the book is inspired, but not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/5 "2012-08-21T01:30:19Z")
I assume it has something to do with bondage, but really, that book is porn. I picked up a copy at B&N, flipped to a random page, and nearly shrieked, “NIPPLE CLAMPS??” out loud. You may be better off not knowing. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/6 "2012-08-21T02:36:12Z")
According to Yahoo Answers (yes, paragon of great answers), it refers to how the character Mr. Grey is kind of screwed up (“50 shades of f’d up” said this sage of Yahoo). He’s a sadist. I guess it might refer to how everything he does is a little bad, but not necessarily pure evil (i.e. good intentions or something). Also, I learned from Wikipedia while researching that it’s based off of a Twilight fanfiction. That explains… something about its popularity, or the nature of its plot or… something. I think. Maybe. The ingenious thing about the title is that when I first heard it I thought it was overanalyzed classic English class fare like Pride & Prejudice or The Picture of Dorian Gray. If somebody just heard the title when you told them what you were reading and had no context they’d think you were sophisticated (or pretentious) as hell. Then I looked up the synopsis. Yeah… not so much. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/7 "2012-08-21T02:37:13Z")
Or “50 Shades of Purple… Prose” Twilight: Wow sparkly vampires are somehow way cooler than some passive woman meeting Patrick Bateman-lite. ---
**Author:** ![dumredhed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@dumredhed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dumredhed)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/8 "2012-08-21T07:22:19Z")
Christian Grey tells Anastasia that he is “50 shades of fucked up”. Therefore, Fifty Shades of Grey ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/9 "2012-08-21T11:56:22Z")
> [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > I assume it has something to do with bondage, but really, that book is porn. Bad porn, at that. Hell, it started off as _Twilight_ fan-fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/10 "2012-08-21T14:07:20Z")
My wife bought the book. I opened it to a random page, and was treated to a passage of the main male character “erotically” yanking out the tampon of the female protagonist. Clearly, thought I, this is not the book for me. ---
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/11 "2012-08-21T21:32:02Z")
Damn. I thought the title was referencing sexy such as the eye color grey. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/12 "2012-08-22T01:26:44Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > My wife bought the book. I opened it to a random page, and was treated to a passage of the main male character “erotically” yanking out the tampon of the female protagonist. > > Clearly, thought I, this is not the book for me. You know, I’m no prude, and I have no problem with this book. I just think it’s inappropriate to have stacks and stacks on display for sale at the grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/13 "2012-08-22T01:30:45Z")
My mum (she’s 67) bought the whole series. ‘It’s really a love story.’ she says - ‘A romance.’ Because nothing says romance like a fist up the ass. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/14 "2012-08-22T01:35:41Z")
So what I’m getting from all this is that it’s the novelization of [this song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsn9GpuzMtw) ([lyrics](http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/the_irresponsibles/break_me.html)). ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/15 "2012-08-22T01:57:27Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > My mum (she’s 67) bought the whole series. ‘It’s really a love story.’ she says - ‘A romance.’ > > Because nothing says romance like a fist up the ass. You must admit, _whatever_ the sentiment you’re trying to convey, save for a few very specific ones, a fist up the ass is probaly a unique way of doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/16 "2012-08-22T13:26:25Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > So what I’m getting from all this is that it’s the novelization of [this song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsn9GpuzMtw) ([lyrics](http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/the_irresponsibles/break_me.html)). I’m thinking more like the novelization of [this song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLm5oSJRxIU) ([lyrics](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/a/adam+sandler/medium+pace_20003920.html)). ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/17 "2012-08-22T17:38:44Z")
> [@IceQube](#): > > Damn. I thought the title was referencing sexy such as the eye color grey. Yeah, that too. ---
**Author:** ![Crab\_Rangoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Crab\_Rangoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crab_Rangoon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/18 "2012-08-22T18:02:19Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > My mum (she’s 67) bought the whole series. ‘It’s really a love story.’ she says - ‘A romance.’ > > Because nothing says romance like a fist up the ass. Thank you. I needed a laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/19 "2012-08-22T18:05:44Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > My mum (she’s 67) bought the whole series. ‘It’s really a love story.’ she says - ‘A romance.’ > > Because nothing says romance like a fist up the ass. There is a series? I thought it was just the one book. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113/20 "2012-08-22T18:07:05Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > There is a series? I thought it was just the one book. I know somebody who is taking off work to go buy more books… 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-shades-of-grey/632113.md?page=2)