# Is there an older, more innocuous meaning of "one-night stand"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970 "2021-04-14T12:51:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/21 "2021-04-14T16:50:49Z")
As someone who turned 16 in 1969 I can attest to the sudden change in sexual values. It almost seemed like the young ladies had gotten together and decided that the in thing to do was to experience sex instead of retaining their virginities for marriage. It was an amazing thing to witness and I think movies might have had a big effect on the social mores changing. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/22 "2021-04-14T16:54:57Z")
Introduction of “the pill” in the early 60’s led to a huge change in sexual mores throughout that decade, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/23 "2021-04-14T17:39:32Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Charitably, in spite of being way in the past, 1964 was not the height of Victorian prudery. So, a commonly understood euphemism for sex would not have been the least bit shocking, particularly to the target market for Rock n Roll. Yeah, I remember that song, and I always thought it was implying sex. Lots of songs had euphemisms but the meanings were clear. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/24 "2021-04-14T17:45:32Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > Introduction of “the pill” in the early 60’s led to a huge change in sexual mores throughout that decade, IMHO. Ayup. There was a brief, glorious time between the start of relatively easy access to the Pill (which was more like late 60’s; when it first came out it wasn’t necessarily all that easy to get, especially for unmarried women), and the realization of HIV. I gather that in some groups a herpes panic came before HIV; but I don’t remember the people I was hanging out with worrying much about herpes. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/25 "2021-04-14T17:48:14Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > There was a brief, glorious time between the start of relatively easy access to the Pill (which was more like late 60’s It depended on where you lived. Some states had obscenity laws that prevented conversations about birth control, even between doctors and patients, and there were other places where I’m not actually sure if it was statute or just an agreement, but the pill was not prescribed for single women. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/26 "2021-04-14T17:59:19Z")
I have the remains of a bedroom set in my apartment, purchased over forty years ago by my then-girlfriend (now late wife). The headboard is in my garage, the dresser crumbled into sawdust years back, and now I’m left with one nightstand. That strikes me as pretty innocuous. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/27 "2021-04-14T18:37:31Z")
I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. Quite the (contrived?) story. About the nightstand, not your late wife. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/28 "2021-04-14T19:14:07Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > now I’m left with one nightstand. But given the sentimental attachment, surely it’s still immensely significant. It must bring back memories of when you walked her home and she held your hand. You know it couldn’t be _just_ one nightstand. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/29 "2021-04-14T19:50:14Z")
> [@its\_the\_daddy](#): > > So life was never better than > In nineteen sixty-three > (Though just too late for me) - > Between the end of the “Chatterley” ban > And the Beatles’ first LP. Loved the poem. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/30 "2021-04-14T20:20:03Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > It depended on where you lived. Some states had obscenity laws that prevented conversations about birth control, even between doctors and patients, and there were other places where I’m not actually sure if it was statute or just an agreement, but the pill was not prescribed for single women. Might even have depended on the particular doctors you saw, in some areas. I had genuinely terrible menstrual periods, which the Pill fixed very nicely; and in the very late 60’s had no problem getting it prescribed for that reason, though when I first went on it they were still telling you to stop using it for (I think) a month or so every year. I do think it was getting a lot easier by then to get it specifically for birth control; but I’m sure I wasn’t the only person still living at home and seeing (long before HIPPA) a doctor who was a friend of my parents. They might not have objected, but I was quite glad not to have to find out. I did not complain about the, um, side effect. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/31 "2021-04-14T21:41:42Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. Quite the (contrived?) story. Actually, it’s not _completely_ contrived. The only inaccuracy is the fact that I still have both nightstands. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/32 "2021-04-14T21:43:33Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > > There was a brief, glorious time between the start of relatively easy access to the Pill (which was more like late 60’s > > It depended on where you lived. Some states had obscenity laws that prevented conversations about birth control, even between doctors and patients, and there were other places where I’m not actually sure if it was statute or just an agreement, but the pill was not prescribed for single women. Sounds like some Republican states in 2021. 😬 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/33 "2021-04-14T23:10:48Z")
If not 2021 certainly by 2025 unless they are comprehensively stopped in 22 and 24. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/34 "2021-04-15T00:10:46Z")
I was already having one-night stands in 1964. But I think I called them “looking for Mr. Right.” (I finally found him, 23 years later.) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/35 "2021-04-15T04:19:23Z")
If they had any understanding of the sexual meaning of the phase, there is no way the Hermits’ management would have allowed that record to be released. Herman’s Hermits were deliberately marketed as a wholesome alternative to bands that had a more “degenerate” image. Peter Noone was the type of mop top even granny wouldn’t object to. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/36 "2021-04-15T05:47:21Z")
An example of television prudery is that “Let’s Spend the Night Together” became “Let’s Spend Some Time Together.” And one night stand also appears in Day Tripper in a clearly sexual context. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/37 "2021-04-15T10:50:49Z")
In '64 or '65 Paul Simon could write: I’m sittin’ in the railway station Got a ticket for my destination On a tour of one-night stands My suitcase and guitar in hand And every stop is neatly planned For a poet and a one-man band without embarrassment. Clearly the old meaning was still valid then! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/38 "2021-04-15T15:52:16Z")
The old meaning is still valid today. The question is when the newer meaning(s) arose. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/39 "2021-04-15T18:58:40Z")
That usage is clearly a reference to the “single night performance” meaning. That whole song (“Homeward Bound”) is about the experience of being a travelling musician. Of course, Paul Simon also wrote about “the whores on Seventh Avenue,” and how he occasionally “took some comfort there.” So he wasn’t shy about referencing sex if he wanted to, but he wasn’t doing so when he talked about one-night stands. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970/40 "2021-04-15T20:15:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The question is when the newer meaning(s) arose. Sorry, but the question is: # [Is there an older, more innocuous meaning of “one-night stand”?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-older-more-innocuous-meaning-of-one-night-stand/939970.md?page=3)