# Is this arrangement a foursome or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050 "2012-02-16T18:49:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/1 "2012-02-16T18:49:01Z")
Inspired by another [such question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=642200), now I’m wondering about: Two couples going at it simultaneously in adjoining rooms that can hear each other. (Regardless of gender/orientation. Any two couples.) Do they constitute a foursome (a.k.a. _ménage à quatre_) or not? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/2 "2012-02-16T18:52:09Z")
Nope, just a bit of exhibitionism and/or voyeurism. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/3 "2012-02-16T19:13:50Z")
Ah, memories of the B&B we stayed in in Ireland on our honeymoon. We awoke in the middle of the night to hear the couple on the other side of the (paper thin) wall going at it- the young lady was quite vocal. So we made the best of it and joined right in, but safe in our own room. We passed each other in the hall the next morning on the way to a late breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/4 "2012-02-16T19:15:21Z")
Nope. It doesn’t become a foursome until they swap partners or get into a group formation. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/5 "2012-02-16T19:24:25Z")
Nope. Definitely not. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/6 "2012-02-16T19:27:15Z")
Maybe if they arranged it beforehand. But probably not even then. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/7 "2012-02-16T21:04:30Z")
Not unless they play golf together afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/8 "2012-02-16T21:06:17Z")
Reminds me of prom night. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/9 "2012-02-16T22:18:26Z")
Are they playing Bridge? ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/10 "2012-02-16T22:38:53Z")
Inconclusive. I’d need several pictures at varying angles and lighting amounts to make a full determination. Video would be even better. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/11 "2012-02-16T22:40:48Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Inconclusive. I’d need several pictures at varying angles and lighting amounts to make a full determination. Video would be even better. I dunno, man. Footage of Bridge games tends not to be terribly exciting. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/12 "2012-02-16T23:08:26Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Nope, just a bit of exhibitionism and/or voyeurism. This. It’s only a foursome if they are all together, either swapping partners, with their own partners, or in a big heap. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/13 "2012-02-16T23:14:15Z")
A foursoem requires that at least two people ‘touch’ two other people, or one person that touches three other people. One guy with three girls is a foursome, one girl with three guys is a foursome. Two couples together only become a foursome if at least one girl and guy cross over, ideally both cross over. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/14 "2012-02-16T23:15:05Z")
What if each couple senses that the other has entered into a tacit agreement with them—and via their sounds they start to influence each other… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/15 "2012-02-16T23:16:56Z")
I had in mind a male-female couple in one room and a female-female couple in the other. Tacitly cooperating through sound. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/16 "2012-02-16T23:19:27Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I had in mind a male-female couple in one room and a female-female couple in the other. Tacitly cooperating through sound. Kinky but still not a foursome. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/17 "2012-02-16T23:23:39Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > I dunno, man. Footage of Bridge games tends not to be terribly exciting. I am fairly certain Bridge has been rule 34’d, but I don’t care to research it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/18 "2012-02-16T23:56:06Z")
I can’t see any possible way that would be considered a “foursome.” I mean, I wouldn’t even consider it a foursome if they were in the same room. Imagine, say, a college situation where both beds are occupied with couples going at it, but no other intermingling. I really doubt anyone would claim they participated in a foursome in that case. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/19 "2012-02-17T00:00:08Z")
Not even remotely. If it all it took was hearing people, then I’ve been in plenty of situations that were orgies. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050/20 "2012-02-17T00:18:16Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > I dunno, man. Footage of Bridge games tends not to be terribly exciting. …and 4 no-trump could be very disappointing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-arrangement-a-foursome-or-not/613050.md?page=2)