# "Mind the gap" offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 22, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516 "2023-09-22T02:51:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/1 "2023-09-22T02:51:53Z")
This discussion started in another thread. To fully discuss it without it turning into a hijack, I’ve started a new thread. “Mind the gap” is a warning given on the London Underground railway system. On certain stations there is a slight gap between the platform and train. The words are painted onto the platform, and spoken over the tannoy. The conversation so far. > [@Why all the genres?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-genres/990368/13): > > The other weird thing that happened involved my hat. One of the guys in the band is originally from London, so I wore a hat my gf brought home for me from there. It says MIND THE GAP on it. > > I was talking with the band, sharing our vape pens, when a woman approached. If she complained about vaping I would have understood and apologized. We were outside, but still I try to be courteous. Nope, she complained about my “obscene” hat and said there were kids present and I was being rude. > > She stormed off, leaving us perplexed. A few minutes later the owner of the place approached and asked if I was wearing a different hat earlier. The woman had complained to him about my hat, and now he was perplexed. He ended up buying me a beer. > [@Why all the genres?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-genres/990368/14): > > You need to avoid people like this. They proliferate because too few people (especially politicians) have the backbone to simply tell them to F Off. Common words & phrases have had their meanings skewed to suit whatever agenda might be popular that month. Largely thanks social media & the attention hounds it attracts. > [@Why all the genres?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-genres/990368/16): > > I’m guessing she’s never been to London. > > [[picture](https://tinyurl.com/4k9fuma2)] > [@Why all the genres?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-genres/990368/19): > > [https://i.imgur.com/BOo69uf.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/BOo69uf.jpg) > The offensive hat! > [@Why all the genres?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-genres/990368/20): > > That’s crazy…even includes the “Tube” logo. > [@Why all the genres?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-genres/990368/31): > > I would _not_ wear a red hat (no matter the logo) because some might assume I was MAGA. So, speculate away. What did the person find so offensive? Obviously there was some kind of misunderstanding, but what did she think? Best guess is she thought red hat = Trump support. If correct, that’s not a good thing to do. As much as I deplore Trump and his supporters, they have the right to wear hats in public expressing their opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/2 "2023-09-22T02:54:09Z")
She thought it was a vagina reference. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/3 "2023-09-22T02:59:00Z")
Copying over my guess (which apparently came just after you made this thread.) > [@Why all the genres?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-genres/990368/32): > > The only thing I can think of is that “gap” is also used to refer to a thigh gap. But that wouldn’t make much sense in context here, I wouldn’t think. > > But I googled it, just to check. (I tried “mind the gap” obscene). And I found [an old language forum post](https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/mind-the-gap.1361600/) from 2009 where someone said > > > Last time I was in London I saw somewhere: “Mind the gap unless it’s between the legs of your girlfriend” or something like it. > > So I guess maybe she’s only encountered it in that way? Or maybe she just assumed what the OP of that thread asked. Or, heck, maybe someone lied to her about what the phrase meant. ⁢ ---
**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:** [September 22, 2023, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/4 "2023-09-22T04:42:41Z")
I’ve been to London so I know what it really means, but my first dirty thought would be it referred to cleavage, which the hat says mind, as in pay attention to. “When correctly viewed, anything is lewd.” - Tom Lehrer. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/5 "2023-09-22T04:59:18Z")
> [@Why all the genres?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-genres/990368/32): > > The only thing I can think of is that “gap” is also used to refer to a thigh gap I’m sure I’ve seen ‘mind the gap’ explicitly referring to thigh gaps, in which case it might not be the directly sexual allusion that’s taken offense to, but the (imagined) perpetration of an unhealthy and objectifying standard for women’s bodies (‘thigh gap’ as a shorthand for extreme slimness). But yeah, some people just work hard at finding something to be offended by. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/6 "2023-09-22T05:04:55Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > I’m sure I’ve seen ‘mind the gap’ explicitly referring to thigh gaps It is used like that on Urban Dictionary, but people there very often just Make Shit Up. > **[Urban Dictionary: mind the gap](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mind%20the%20gap)** > > mind the gap: Famous phrase that is said at the London Underground warning people who use the subway to be wary of the gap between the train and the... ---
**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:** [September 22, 2023, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/7 "2023-09-22T05:06:57Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > “When correctly viewed, anything is lewd.” - Tom Lehrer. [I have _urges_ in my _areas_.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qmUJpcPAaM) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/8 "2023-09-22T05:08:51Z")
I’ve never heard the phrase used in relation to women. However, having travelled on the London Tube, the Toronto subway, and the Perth, Australia, transit trains (not really subways, as they mostly travel above ground, but they’re the same idea), I can attest that “Mind the Gap” pretty much only refers to a warning to be mindful of the empty space between the platform and the train when boarding and disembarking. At least, that’s all it means to me. At any rate, it’s an inoffensive phrase. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/9 "2023-09-22T11:09:52Z")
I’ve heard/read the phrase for a long time being used in a context that I’m sure has nothing to do with London. I live in the US and have never spent much time anywhere with public transportation in general, let alone something that specific. I guess I’ve never cared to investigate but I assumed it had something to do with a double entendre of some sort and/or meme culture. There are a lot of slang terms from various internet forums, tiktok (though this definitely predates all modern forms of social media), whatever. Usually, my first thought is something IS a sexual reference because, well that’s just how people are (Even around 99% of people I know irl can’t wait to be the first to respond “That’s what she said” to anything that could remotely be taken in a sexual way). ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/10 "2023-09-22T11:15:58Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > She thought it was a vagina reference. My thought as well. She was totally off base, and unaware of common things in other countries, but that doesn’t exactly make her unique. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/11 "2023-09-22T11:36:00Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > My thought as well. Same here. If she thought it was a MAGA hat, she would have clearly seen it wasn’t as she got closer\*. Plus, it would be exhausting if she had to ‘speak to the manager’ every time she saw someone wearing a red hat. I’m thinking that she either assumed it was some type of euphemism or she misread ‘gap’ as ‘gash’ (ie ‘she’s just a gash in a sundress’) One can only hope she proudly told her friends about the time she got some guy kicked out of a show for wearing a “Mind the Gap” hat and that they promptly laughed and corrected her. Also, I’d assume at some point she’d run across the reference somewhere else and realize the folly of her ways. But, if she hasn’t yet, she probably won’t. \*OTOH, If she did think it was a MAGA hat, good for her, I guess. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > If correct, that’s not a good thing to do. As much as I deplore Trump and his supporters, they have the right to wear hats in public expressing their opinions. People absolutely have the right to wear a MAGA hat all they want, but to be fair, that same right allows other people to tell them it’s offensive. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/12 "2023-09-22T11:47:45Z")
Add me to team "huh? " ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/13 "2023-09-22T12:19:44Z")
I looked at the picture. The writing on the cap is kinda small. Maybe the woman wasn’t close enough to read it properly and thought it said “mind the gay”, or something else. Ball caps are the dominant form of public discourse these days; maybe she assumed it would be something political. Or maybe she was just upset that you were wearing a hat indoors, you savage. ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/14 "2023-09-22T12:28:58Z")
I once made reference to a pansy on this forum. As in a flower, which is exactly what a pansy is. For context, I was describing colorful attire. A subsequent poster somehow read it as a sleight toward Gays. If it was, it was it was a sleight I was certainly unaware of. A moderator, who apparently is unschooled in the science of botany, sided with the poster. I was unfairly chastised. There are those that will distort anything to suit their own intent. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/15 "2023-09-22T12:40:27Z")
Maybe she was dyslexic. Damn het pig Meth and pig Pang the dim Dig tan hemp Dang the imp Mat peg hind Gimped hant Hang ted imp Get damn hip Dang pet him Amped thing Temp gandhi Had pigment ---
**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:** [September 22, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/16 "2023-09-22T13:18:22Z")
The fact her objection was couched in terms of there being children present pretty well proves she thought it was a sexual innuendo. MAGAism is equally (more?) child-unfriendly, but 'Murricans be prudes first and foremost, thinkers only much later if at all. The fact she (or other parents) had children at a music venue @kayaker would attend pretty well says they are lousy parents who deserve a telling off irrespective of their headgear. I’ll also second the notion that for a pure USAian with zero interest in anything beyond their local county, “Mind the Gap” is bafflingly meaningless and unfamiliar. It can’t possibly have a sensible ordinary meaning. Especially not if it’s displayed on a hat. [aside] “Keep calm and carry on”, plus all the recent jokey variations is another UK-and related-countries meme completely unknown to insular USAians. I’ve traveled to such countries a bunch, including 50 years ago as a teen. I’d never heard of “Keep calm and carry on” until it hit the internet a few years ago. The fact it’s usually shown with the crown makes it obviously British and the rest follows easily enough if you’re paying attention. It was certainly a real thing during WWII and had evidently fallen into disuse from 1945-ish until it was humorously / irreverently revived in 2015-ish. I’m sure there are plenty of USAians now who recognize “Keep calm and [whatever] on” as meme fodder, but have no idea of the origin story. [/aside] ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/17 "2023-09-22T13:32:33Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The fact she (or other parents) had children at a music venue @kayaker would attend pretty well says they are lousy parents who deserve a telling off irrespective of their headgear. The venue was a marina that had a pizza truck and a [Dancing Gnome](https://dancinggnomebeer.com/) beer pop-up, so any kids there were with parents buying pizza to go. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Or maybe she was just upset that you were wearing a hat indoors, you savage. Hehe. We were outdoors at a marina. I generally remove my hat and sunglasses upon entering a building. ---
**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:** [September 22, 2023, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/18 "2023-09-22T13:38:30Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > The fact she (or other parents) had children at a music venue @kayaker would attend pretty well says they are lousy parents who deserve a telling off irrespective of their headgear. > > The venue was a marina that had a pizza truck and a [Dancing Gnome](https://dancinggnomebeer.com/) beer pop-up, so any kids there were with parents buying pizza to go. Thanks for the additional details. I was mostly making a joking reference to a post of yours a few months ago telling a story where you were indeed at a drinkin’ hollerin’ grown-up kinda event and some idjit had the temerity to object to your “colorful” language because their children were present and might be harmed. To which you, quite rightly IMO, lit into her(?) and her(?) incompetence / active negligence as a parent. I had guessed this event bore a passing resemblance to that one. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/19 "2023-09-22T13:41:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > To which you, quite rightly IMO, lit into her(?) and her(?) incompetence / active negligence as a parent. Ahhh, yes, been there. The only reason I was totally silent following the Mind The Gap lady was because I was perplexed and had smoked some fine green. ---
**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:** [September 22, 2023, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/20 "2023-09-22T13:43:08Z")
> [@Keith1](#): > > If it was, it was it was a sleight I was certainly unaware of. You’ve never heard “pansy” to refer to a gay person? It’s a bit old-fashioned by now, but that’s the first thing that comes to mind for me before the flower (which I know exists, as well.) Anyway, to me “gap” in the OP must’ve meant something (pseudo)sexual to the woman. Either thigh gap, vagina, or possibly cleavage. Doesn’t really matter which in terms of the reaction. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516.md?page=2)