# "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:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/61 "2023-09-23T14:26:07Z")
The gap! Ah that old taunt from HS days/ can’t help I have wide hips, even in maturity with added pounds to my frame it remains. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/62 "2023-09-23T18:04:41Z")
A word I just learned a few weeks ago from a book which I assume is by a British author ---
**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 23, 2023, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/63 "2023-09-23T22:09:12Z")
> [@chela](#): > > The gap! Ah that old taunt from HS days/ can’t help I have wide hips, even in maturity with added pounds to my frame it remains. Women equipped with thigh gaps are far, far _more_ desirable than the other kind. At least for a hefty subset of male observers. I would not ordinarily bring this up as these sorts of comments are frowned on a bit nowadays around here. But you sounded sad about your configuration and I mean to brighten your day. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2023, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/64 "2023-09-24T09:58:10Z")
I have heard the phrase used in a bantering way to refer to a glimpse of “builder’s crack” (the French equivalent of which, I have recently learned, is “le sourire du plombier” - “plumber’s smile”) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2023, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/65 "2023-09-24T10:27:25Z")
They use the expression in English on subways in Japan, as well. I wasted all these years not being offended. ---
**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 24, 2023, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/66 "2023-09-24T11:34:47Z")
I’ve always heard that referred to as “plumbers crack”. ---
**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 24, 2023, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/67 "2023-09-24T11:41:57Z")
Putting the English and French together I wonder if that’s the origin of “crack a smile”? 😁 ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516/68 "2023-09-24T15:24:52Z")
> I can no longer hear about airline safety demos without chuckling. That reminds me of one of Lily Savage’s greater NSFW rants (from about 54sec): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/GAnZr9wpsD0/hqdefault.jpg "Lily Savage") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAnZr9wpsD0) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mind-the-gap-offensive/990516.md?page=3)