# Does "the third date rule" apply? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 4, 2002, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185 "2002-11-04T10:36:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/1 "2002-11-04T10:36:38Z")
Most certainly not. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/2 "2002-11-04T10:51:43Z")
'course it does. Any more than three dates, and I fart like a demon. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/3 "2002-11-04T11:55:26Z")
I’m on the fence in this case. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/4 "2002-11-04T12:25:33Z")
It only applies if the first two weren’t double dates. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/5 "2002-11-04T14:07:07Z")
I’ve been married for almost 140 years. So, stamp out some ignorance and tell me what the Third Date Rule is, please? Cartooniverse ---
**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:** [November 4, 2002, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/6 "2002-11-04T14:09:38Z")
… and whether it has changed recently and we did not get the Memo? ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/7 "2002-11-04T14:18:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cartooniverse \* > \*\*I’ve been married for almost 140 years. So, stamp out some ignorance and tell me what the Third Date Rule is, please? > \*\* I’m not married, and I have no clue. So, yeah, some help would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/8 "2002-11-04T14:24:43Z")
I believe the rule is: it is customary to have sex on the third date. Incredibly silly. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/9 "2002-11-04T14:27:37Z")
No, there were plenty of instances in which I was ready to have sex on the first date. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/10 "2002-11-04T14:42:06Z")
Would everyone be happy with the **Third Date Rule of Thumb**? ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/11 "2002-11-04T14:44:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Menocchio \* > **I believe the rule is: it is customary to have sex on the third date.** Oh. That’d be why I didn’t know, seeing as it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to the third date. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/12 "2002-11-04T14:50:39Z")
What’s a third date? ---
**Author:** ![merbelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@merbelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merbelle)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/13 "2002-11-04T14:50:40Z")
it used to be, and not all that long ago, that the third date was when you might kiss for the first time. i honestly think that a movie or t.v. show was responsible for the notion that sex is required on the third date. it’s almost like an urban legend, with no certain origin, and no basis in anything solid. i know that it’s recently been mentioned on Ally MacBeal, but did not begin there. it’s simple; some want sex as pure recreation, while others see it as a step on the road to commitment and a third group sees it as a step to be taken once that road has been travelled awhile. which of the three routes to take merely depends on the agreement between partners. it’s a good question on the test for compatibility. mary ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/14 "2002-11-04T15:02:50Z")
I prefer these days, what with HIV & whatever out there that wasn’t out when they made that rule, to now call it the three month rule 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/15 "2002-11-04T15:18:32Z")
- - - Yea, you wanna leave it long enough that if they’ve got anything thay haven’t told you about, symptoms begin to come out before you go flappin _yer_ goods wit 'em! ~ ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/16 "2002-11-04T15:38:44Z")
Bah. I miss the 80’s. Back in the day, we didn’t even necessarily _have_ a third date, so if you were going to have sex, you had to get right to it on the first date! And we were glad to have it! Kids these days… ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/17 "2002-11-04T16:00:17Z")
Good lord, what is with you people? Doesn’t anyone nail a stranger in a dark alley anymore? J ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/18 "2002-11-04T16:00:39Z")
The results of a poll some time back were that if a man didn’t score by the third date, he would forever remain in the “friend” zone. Stated slightly differently, a woman supposedly knows by the third date whether or not she is willing to bed a man. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/19 "2002-11-04T16:13:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jarbabyj \* > \*\*Good lord, what is with you people? Doesn’t anyone nail a stranger in a dark alley anymore? > > J \*\* Well, yeah. But that’s a _stranger_, not someone I’m dating. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185/20 "2002-11-05T03:04:31Z")
I am **so** sorry I asked. The last third date I had, I wound up marrying her. I should have stopped at two dates. :mad: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-third-date-rule-apply/135185.md?page=2)