# The purple prong

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-purple-prong/598812>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 6, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-purple-prong/598812 "2011-10-06T18:54:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MontanaWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MontanaWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MontanaWalker)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-purple-prong/598812/1 "2011-10-06T18:54:17Z")

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When UPS delivered a package in less than a day, I complimented  
The fast delivery – “Well,” said the guy, “that’s why we call it  
Living the purple prong.” I wrote it down exactly as he said it,  
curious about this idiom. Weeks of research have been useless.  
Did he just make it up? Has anyone ever heard it before? I am  
In Alabama, where speech can be pretty colorful.

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**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-purple-prong/598812/2 "2011-10-06T19:15:09Z")

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UPS or FedEx? I found some vague references to something called “Living the Purple Promise”, which seems to be an internal FedEx customer service initiative, but some references seem to come from UPS people. I can’t find anything on Google that actually explains what it entails in an informational form, so I assume it’s internal.

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**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-purple-prong/598812/3 "2011-10-06T19:33:43Z")

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Nice find **jayjay** - I could see UPS employees taking that bit of competitor corporate-speak and bastardizing it.

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**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-purple-prong/598812/4 "2011-10-06T19:37:46Z")

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Is prong a slang term for penis?

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**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-purple-prong/598812/5 "2011-10-06T19:40:04Z")

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> [@Jas09](#):
>
> Nice find **jayjay** - I could see UPS employees taking that bit of competitor corporate-speak and bastardizing it.

It could have been him (if he was actually a FedEx employee instead of UPS) saying it straight, too, and his accent (Alabama) making it sound like “prong”.