# "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:** 2
**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, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/21 "2023-09-22T14:03:38Z")
Moderating: Please don’t continue the discussion of Keith1’s use of “pansy” here. If you are curious, he was mod-noted for using pansy in a way most people would interpret as a slur, and warned for arguing moderation in the thread. Here’s the warning, it’s easy to read up to see the rest. > [@Should elementary schools require bike helmets?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/33): > > Warning for @Keith1 for continuing use of a homophobic slur after being told not to, and for arguing moderation outside of ATMB. If you feel the need to discuss that old incident further, please take out outside this thread. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/22 "2023-09-22T15:00:02Z")
The Chive had an [image gallery of thigh gaps with this title](https://www.dailycamera.com/2013/11/05/experts-say-you-probably-cant-safely-mind-the-thigh-gap-trend/) (link to article about the thigh gap trend, not to the the gallery), but this was relatively obscure. I’m certain that’s what this woman was thinking, but why she thought this was a mainstream interpretation or what anyone would intend to convey with a “mind the gap” hat is beyond me. ---
**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, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/23 "2023-09-22T15:51:33Z")
I was blissfully unaware of the whole concept of a “thigh gap” until I was in my 50s. This is just as well, because given the shape of my leg bones, there’s no way I could have a gap between my thighs while having useful leg muscles. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/24 "2023-09-22T16:08:01Z")
Just curious why this is tagged as a Trump thread? Does every thread involving sexual innuendo now qualify as Trump-related? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/25 "2023-09-22T16:13:23Z")
Passing mention suffixes to put the auto-tagger to work. But it looks like it’s been untagged. ---
**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, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/26 "2023-09-22T16:31:34Z")
Hmm, it looked tagged to me. I just untagged it (again?) ---
**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, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/27 "2023-09-22T17:06:18Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The only reason I was totally silent following the Mind The Gap lady was because I was perplexed and had smoked some fine green. Like you I’m a mellow dude who’s also a King of snappy hostile responses to hostile idjits opening with unwarranted hostility. But once in awhile I’m just dumbfounded into speechlessness. If they’re quick with their getaway I’m just left standing agape. But I do try to remember my eventual a-ha! comeback. The situation will recur and I _will_ be ready. 😁 ---
**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, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/28 "2023-09-22T17:28:34Z")
I was able to find a photo of a “Mind the Gap” sign from the Toronto subway. These are prominently posted in each subway station: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Mind-the-gap-toronto.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Mind-the-gap-toronto.jpg) Here it is in the London Tube: [![](https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/sites/default/files/styles/media_component_16_9_sm/public/2022-02/IMG_20210917_1200452.jpg?h=23c49773&itok=Wahfo047) ](https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/sites/default/files/styles/media_component_16_9_sm/public/2022-02/IMG_20210917_1200452.jpg?h=23c49773&itok=Wahfo047) Hardly offensive. Just a warning to be careful in boarding and disembarking. ---
**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, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/29 "2023-09-22T17:37:17Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Just curious why this is tagged as a Trump thread? Does every thread involving sexual innuendo now qualify as Trump-related? Me too. Not my doing. A passing moderator added the tag. Not “sexual innuendo” just the speculation that the person mistook it for a MAGA hat. Personally, I think its not needed, but not important enough to protest about. (And now it’s gone) ---
**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, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/30 "2023-09-22T17:46:40Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Hardly offensive. Just a warning to be careful in boarding and disembarking. Yes. To anyone who’s ever seen that usage. Nowhere in the USA would any transit authority choose those words to mean “be careful of not falling into the empty space between platform and train”. It’s utterly not idiomatic USAian. It sounds positively Yoda-speak to me. I’ve been to London. And Toronto. _I_ get it. Lots of USAians would not / will not. They’re the provincial rubes, not you, but we’ve got kind of a specialty going on in provincialism in our benighted country. My first cut on a USA idiomatic warning would be “Beware train/platform opening” ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/31 "2023-09-22T17:48:31Z")
She would love the game I received as a Christmas gift: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/auyQCA2.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/auyQCA2) mmm ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/32 "2023-09-22T17:49:28Z")
“Watch the space between the train and the platform” is what they say on the NYC subway, or something very close to that. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/33 "2023-09-22T18:02:22Z")
11 syllables v 3 syllables Zipf rules! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/34 "2023-09-22T18:10:06Z")
I first ran into Mind the Gap in Neil Gaiman’s **Neverwhere**. I believe that gap was dangerous, but do not remember the particulars. That means I need to read it again, right? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/35 "2023-09-22T18:24:08Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I was able to find a photo of a “Mind the Gap” sign from the Toronto subway. These are prominently posted in each subway station: > > [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Mind-the-gap-toronto.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Mind-the-gap-toronto.jpg) > > Here it is in the London Tube: > > [https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/sites/default/files/styles/media\_component\_16\_9\_sm/public/2022-02/IMG\_20210917\_1200452.jpg?h=23c49773&itok=Wahfo047](https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/sites/default/files/styles/media_component_16_9_sm/public/2022-02/IMG_20210917_1200452.jpg?h=23c49773&itok=Wahfo047) > > Hardly offensive. Just a warning to be careful in boarding and disembarking. That’s terrible! Imagine a country where the government is telling people where and how to walk. It’s the worst kind of nanny state! And for some sort of socialist transportation. I bet the taxpayer has to cover the cost even if you don’t mind the gap. What a world, what a world. /sarcasm ---
**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, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/36 "2023-09-22T18:31:36Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > 11 syllables v 3 syllables > > Zipf rules! Once somebody has explained which “gap” we’re talking about. There is an interesting tradeoff between making stuff safe for frequent users by easy brief reminders versus making stuff safe for first-time users who need lots of handholding. See also the airlines’ pre-departure safety demo. Which, by regulation, assumes the passengers have never been on an airplane before. Nor any vehicle with seatbelts. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/37 "2023-09-22T18:41:51Z")
“Mind the gap” isn’t really idiomatic Canuckian, either. Its use in the Toronto subway is a direct transplant from London, in the time-honoured tradition in Canada and particularly in Toronto of importing things from Britain, like place and street names, and correct spelling. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/38 "2023-09-22T18:46:09Z")
Ask and ye shall receive. [![](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/B78NJP/mind-the-gap-sign-underwear-for-sale-B78NJP.jpg) ](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/B78NJP/mind-the-gap-sign-underwear-for-sale-B78NJP.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/39 "2023-09-22T18:49:27Z")
…and there on sale as well. ---
**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:** [September 22, 2023, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/40 "2023-09-22T19:18:30Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Best guess is she thought red hat = Trump support. Mind the Gap. MTG. It’s code for Marjorie Taylor Greene! Even Brandon could figure that one out… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516.md?page=3)