# Poll: What does "Dark side of the moon" mean **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 8, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768 "2010-05-08T22:25:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/21 "2010-05-09T12:25:39Z")
I picked not visible from earth, but was more thinking “It can mean whatever you want it to mean.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/22 "2010-05-09T12:41:31Z")
I picked “the part of the moon where it is night”. The first thing I thought of was the Pink Floyd album, but of course that’s not _all_ I know about it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/23 "2010-05-09T12:46:59Z")
The evil side of the moon. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/24 "2010-05-09T14:00:43Z")
The second half of a “trip” when you are coming down and feel far worse than before you dosed yourself with chemicals. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/25 "2010-05-09T14:52:27Z")
I understand it to mean “the side of the moon not visible from Earth” even as I understand that it’s a misnomer because that side is lit by the Sun exactly as often as the side we can see. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/26 "2010-05-09T14:57:20Z")
re: the Pink Floyd choice…let us not forget the Jerry Driscoll’s closing words on the album– > [@](#): > > _“There is no dark side in the moon, really. Matter of fact, it’s all dark”_ ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/27 "2010-05-09T15:36:49Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > re: the Pink Floyd choice…let us not forget the Jerry Driscoll’s closing words on the album– **DTC** certainly remembered them ;). ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/28 "2010-05-09T19:44:52Z")
First thing that pops into my head is “Which one?”. Context is everything. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/29 "2010-05-09T20:03:45Z")
The OP question is ambiguous. I started to scroll down to see if there were any further clarification, when I saw **"Please vote before reading posts or checking wikipedia."** Ok, my interpretation of the OP: When you use it, what do you use it to mean? In that case, unless specifically referring to the Pink Floyd album, I always mean “the side that isn’t lit”. I could come up with other interpretations of the OP question that would have required a different answer, but that’s the interpretation I chose when forced. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/30 "2010-05-10T03:08:32Z")
I think it’s the half of the moon not lit by the sun, but the answer choices don’t match that. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/31 "2010-05-10T03:17:28Z")
The (formerly) unknown part of the Moon, i.e., the side facing away from us. In the same sense that (formerly) unexplored areas of Africa (to Europeans, anyway) were known as “darkest Africa.” Nobody thought that it was actually perpetually night in darkest Africa, except in cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/32 "2010-05-10T03:18:58Z")
It means that it’s time to queue up _The Wizard of Oz_ again. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/33 "2010-05-10T03:56:58Z")
The Dark Side of the Moon is the side that eventually pushed it into the ways of the Sith. (but I voted “night side”. I thing of the part we can’t see from earth as the “far side”.) ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/34 "2010-05-10T12:04:14Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I think it’s the half of the moon not lit by the sun, but the answer choices don’t match that. How does “The part of the moon where it is night” not match that? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/35 "2010-05-10T12:05:22Z")
This phrase has always bothered me, because its meaning is, in effect, ambiguous. But I’ve personally interpreted it literally as the side of the moon that’s dark – i.e., in shadow – whether it’s visible from the earth or not. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/36 "2010-05-10T12:51:07Z")
There’s an option you didn’t list… “[Dark Side of the Moon](http://www.discogs.com/Ernesto-vs-Bastian-Dark-Side-Of-The-Moon/release/430616)” is an excellent 2005 trance tune from Ernesto and Bastian (the Dogzilla Pure Filth remix is the one to go for). ---
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/37 "2010-05-10T19:18:18Z")
Thanks for the replies so far. I always thought the phrase meant the far side of the moon. I looked through a bunch of dictionaries, and reference books on phrases, but couldn’t find mention of it. I think the phrase originated when dark meant unknown and most likely referred to the fact that we could never know what the far side of the moon looked like. Now we do know what the far side looks like, so the phrase is obsolete. The replacement and more correct phrase “far side of the moon” may cause problems in the future. As a spaceship approaches the Earth/Moon system which side is the “far side”. The side closest to the ship or the side furthest from the Earth? Maybe we should call the hemispheres Earthside and Spaceside. And as one of my smart ass friends pointed out, a globe doesn’t have sides. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/38 "2010-05-10T19:26:08Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > **DTC** certainly remembered them ;). I did read his post, but I felt I the need to give Mr. Driscoll credit 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/39 "2010-05-10T19:30:12Z")
I use it to mean the side of the moon that never faces the Earth; even though it receives sunlight it’s always “dark” to us. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768/40 "2010-05-11T02:10:11Z")
Random thought: when the earth is between the moon and the sun, isn’t the entire moon dark? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-does-dark-side-of-the-moon-mean/538768.md?page=3)