# The lady or the tiger? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lady-or-the-tiger/513546 "2009-10-12T17:06:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lady-or-the-tiger/513546/21 "2009-10-13T06:53:52Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Pfft. No need to speculate, the original author [wrote a sequel](http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/idiotprogrammer/?p=83398933). Yes, but the sequel gives no clue as to the ending of the first installment. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lady-or-the-tiger/513546/22 "2009-10-13T10:56:33Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Yes, but the sequel gives no clue as to the ending of the first installment. Blame the strangers for being unable to decide before the story’s end! ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lady-or-the-tiger/513546/23 "2009-10-13T11:10:47Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > There’s an old Wizard of Id strip which shows a guy standing in front of two doors in an arena, and the king says, "Behind one of these doors is a beautiful woman, and behind the other is a ferocious, man eating tiger. Which door do you choose. > > And the guy says, “The one with the beautiful woman.” 😃 I’d like to think that the young man (whose only ‘crime’ was love) was helped up to the balcony where the evil King stood, threw the Monarch into the arena and thus taught the King what justice really was. (Especially as there were now two tigers, one behind each door. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lady-or-the-tiger/513546/24 "2009-10-13T11:15:29Z")
A tiger? In Africa? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lady-or-the-tiger/513546/25 "2009-10-13T15:41:49Z")
I say tiger, but only if the tiger is [Hobbes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lady-or-the-tiger/513546/26 "2009-10-13T15:52:38Z")
Isn’t this that thing where the tiger and the lady are either dead or alive, but opening the door changes the outcome? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lady-or-the-tiger/513546/27 "2009-10-13T16:04:25Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > **Malleus** –are you a Furry? > > If so, there may be no difference between the two options. 😃 Actually, according to **Silver Tyger Girl** ’s Q&A thread, I would be a furry. But not the yiffy type. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lady-or-the-tiger/513546/28 "2009-10-13T17:09:59Z")
We had to answer this question, with an explanation, in high school. I picked the lady because I figured the princess, as she was described, was bad ass enough to bump the lady off and then have the guy back. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lady-or-the-tiger/513546/29 "2009-10-13T18:40:49Z")
I’ve always hated this story. Pretentious piece of crap. The setup is totally artificial, and the DUM DUM DUMMMMMM! deliberately unresolved ending is just there to make it seem more significant than it is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lady-or-the-tiger/513546.md?page=1)