# Meaning of ‘strokes’ in “different strokes” **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 12, 2020, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889 "2020-12-12T12:42:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/1 "2020-12-12T12:42:29Z")
“Different strokes for different folks” is a phrase I’ve heard occasionally, and comes up in some songs and of course the hugely popular 80’s sit-com \*Diff’rent Strokes”. What does the word ‘strokes’ refer to? By the way, it took me a while to get Google to find all the various definitions of the word. Everything I tried at first just took me to the something related to the medical issue. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/2 "2020-12-12T13:00:13Z")
According to [the Phrase Finder](https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/different-strokes-for-different-folks.html) the first recorded use is by Muhammed Ali, so strokes refers to whatever he referred to. He was literally referring to punches, so it could be poetic license for “strikes” to make it closer to a rhyme, or maybe he was comparing beating someone into submission to painting a canvas and was thinking of “brush strokes”. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/3 "2020-12-12T14:38:30Z")
I’ve always thought it meant motivations or motives. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/4 "2020-12-12T14:41:54Z")
I’ve always thought it was about painting. Like the stroke of a paintbrush. Is that weird? ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/5 "2020-12-12T14:45:36Z")
^I always thought it referred to painting, as well. > [@naita](#): > > He was literally referring to punches, so it could be poetic license for “strikes” No poetic license needed. The primary noun definition for “stroke” is “the act of striking.” ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/6 "2020-12-12T15:05:39Z")
Or could be taken as meaning swimming strokes? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/7 "2020-12-12T15:14:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > No poetic license needed. The primary noun definition for “stroke” is “the act of striking.” Ha! Of course you are right. What an interesting blind spot in my comprehension! ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/8 "2020-12-12T15:37:38Z")
I’ve always taken the phrase to be a synonym for the phrase “whatever floats your boat.” I.e,. different people have different interests, feelings, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/9 "2020-12-12T17:21:46Z")
Didn’t any of you live through the 60s? “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone was a number one hit for four weeks in 1969. > Sometimes I’m right and I can be wrong > My own beliefs are in my song > The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then > Makes no difference what group I’m in > I am everyday people, yeah yeah > > There is a blue one who can’t accept > The green one for living with > A fat one tryin’ to be a skinny one > Different strokes for different folks > And so on and so on and scooby dooby dooby It was the feeliest feel-good song about accepting peoples’ differences, one of the last aftermaths of the summer of love. To my memory. nobody associated the phrase with Ali after that song. It was played everywhere all the time, used in commercials, and cited regularly long before the tv show. “Different strokes for different folks” was the American slang version of _à chacun son_. Man, the 60s really are over, aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/10 "2020-12-12T18:07:13Z")
Yes, and I think that the meaning and usage of the entire phrase is obvious to most. But as some of the previous posters figured out, the word ‘strokes’ still must have a literal meaning. It wasn’t invented just to rhyme with ‘folks’. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/11 "2020-12-12T18:26:07Z")
Hitting, painting, swimming…when it comes to “strokes” these are all ways to move, and we all move in different ways, both physically and mentally. ---
**Author:** ![TimothyNewsome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@TimothyNewsome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimothyNewsome)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/12 "2020-12-12T18:26:30Z")
I have read that Gary Coleman claimed that he had been abused and abandoned by everyone he ever loved or trusted, and that is a large part of the reason he cited why he was in the process of joining the “Mormon” church (Also know as the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints”) before he was murdered. killed by his new Mormon wife, which she successfully claimed was merely a tragic accident. Does anyone know what Todd Bridges, Gary’s cocaine-addict co-star on “Diff’rent Strokes” does to honor Gary’s memory? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/13 "2020-12-12T19:06:41Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@TimothyNewsome](#): > > Does anyone know what Todd Bridges, Gary’s cocaine-addict co-star on “Diff’rent Strokes” does to honor Gary’s memory? This is pretty much completely unrelated to the meaning of the word “strokes” in “different strokes for different folks.” Feel free to create a new thread to discuss it if you’d like, but it’s a bit too off-topic for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/14 "2020-12-12T19:18:44Z")
I knew what it meant, but I couldn’t remember the source. But you are correct. It is a call to accept differences among people. While the 60’s might be over, they still resonate and influence today. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/15 "2020-12-12T19:24:20Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Yes, and I think that the meaning and usage of the entire phrase is obvious to most. But as some of the previous posters figured out, the word ‘strokes’ still must have a literal meaning. It wasn’t invented just to rhyme with ‘folks’. As Ali used the phrase, it had a literal meaning. But mostly a rhyming one. Sly metaphored it. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/16 "2020-12-12T19:28:29Z")
Strokes = petting. Duh. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/17 "2020-12-12T20:11:30Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The primary noun definition for “stroke” is “the act of striking.” > [@naita](#): > > What an interesting blind spot in my comprehension! I don’t think it’s really a blind spot, given that it was a boxer who said it. Although I suppose a boxing punch does technically fall under the broader term “stroke”, I think it’s not the word most speakers would usually choose. It was obviously motivated principally by wanting to make the rhyme work. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/18 "2020-12-12T20:32:16Z")
I always thought it was a reference to the line about the “different drummer,” by Thoreau. The “stroke” was against the drum. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/19 "2020-12-12T22:14:19Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > Or could be taken as meaning swimming strokes? I like this theory. There’s lots of ways to get to the other side of a pool. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889/20 "2020-12-12T22:33:58Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > There’s lots of ways to get to the other side of a pool. Um, is this a euphemism? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-strokes-in-different-strokes/927889.md?page=2)