# wearing green on thursdays **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 2, 2002, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060 "2002-12-02T22:48:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/41 "2016-03-06T04:23:40Z")
Moved to IMHO from GQ. Note that this thread was started in 2002. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/42 "2016-03-06T04:29:32Z")
It means absolutely nothing to me unless March 17 happens to fall on a Thursday. Which in fact will happen this month. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/43 "2016-03-06T13:43:04Z")
National Lampoons High School Yearbook had a green shirt reference for one of the students. And the little loop on the back of a shirt was a "fruit loop " not a “fag tag.” ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/44 "2016-03-06T17:37:05Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Note that this thread was started in 2002. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator Drat you for pointing that out. I was all ready for the obligatory “green and zombie” reference. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/45 "2016-03-06T23:37:08Z")
Okay, since it’s aliiiiiiiiive again. . . = gay St. Louis, 1960’s **DrFidelius** , that would be [Forrest Lawford “Swish” Swisher](https://archive.org/stream/National_Lampoon_1964_High_School_Yearbook_Parody_1979/National_Lampoon_1964_High_School_Yearbook_Parody_1979_djvu.txt), who also edited the school’s literary magazine and was known for his “theatrical bent.” ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/46 "2016-03-07T00:11:10Z")
(on 12-03-2002 07:02 PM) > [@Johanna](#): > > [(Half this thread is already IMHO fodder.) and then (03-06-2016 11:23 PM) > [@Colibri](#): > > Moved to IMHO from GQ. Note that this thread was started in 2002. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator Can I nominate this for slowest Mod response? Better late than never 😉 On topic: I never heard anything about green and Thursdays - South Florida, middle/high school in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/47 "2016-03-07T04:28:47Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > It means absolutely nothing to me unless March 17 happens to fall on a Thursday. Which in fact will happen this month. As was forseen as early as the fifth century: > [@St. Patrick](#): > > And God decreed that one day in every seven years, horny gay Irish people should be able to pinch anybody they damn well want. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/48 "2016-03-07T15:23:55Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > On topic: I never heard anything about green and Thursdays - South Florida, middle/high school in the 80s. Guess you just weren’t cool enough to call people gay. It was a thing in my high school in Ocala, although since our school colors were green and yellow we were wearing them all the time anyway. “_You’re_ a fag, _I_ just have school spirit!” ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/49 "2016-03-07T15:50:44Z")
I first heard of this in 1962, when my older sister told me about this. I remember being very confused as to why “wearing green” would make one a homosexual. I didn’t realize at the time (7th grade) that it was supposed to be a signal, rather than a symptom. Three years later, I started in the local high school, and learned about the drinking fountains in the school. All of the drinking fountains in the building were in groups of three: wherever there was one, there were also two others. Drinking from the left fountain or the right one was OK, but the middle one was reserved for gays. Therefore, anyone drinking from the middle fountain “was” gay. Except we didn’t say “gay” back then. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/50 "2016-03-07T17:01:43Z")
When my daughter was in elementary school, they wore red on Fridays for “Say No To Drugs” but I never head anything about green Thursdays. When I was in college in the last of the 70s, there was a big deal at Purdue (maybe other places, too) about a certain day being “gay blue jeans day.” There were letters to the editor in the school paper ranging from “Anyone wearing blue jeans on \ will be considered to be gay” to “I’ll wear jeans whenever I want to and if anybody touches me, they get punched!” to “Anyone wearing shoes on \ will be considered to be straight.” This silliness went back and forth for a few weeks till they published a letter that declared “Anyone not wearing clothes on \ will be considered to be naked!” 😃 When the date arrived, I saw one guy walking across campus in denim jeans, a denim jacket, a denim hat, and no shoes. I guess he was making a statement. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/51 "2016-03-07T17:07:30Z")
Tuesday is dark red, the color of venous blood. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/52 "2016-03-07T18:23:32Z")
The ‘green on Thursday means you’re gay’ thing was present in my elementary school days, too (late 60s). For some reason, wearing green socks meant you were particularly gay. I had no idea what gay even meant back then. The whole thing just whooshed right over me. I just made a mental note to avoid green on Thursdays to fit in, which wasn’t always easy as our school colors were green and white. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/53 "2016-03-07T21:28:32Z")
Green on Thursday meant you were gay, red on Fridays meant you were a whore. Back in junior high days. I can’t imagine anybody over the age of 14 giving a shit about it. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/54 "2016-03-08T03:54:30Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Guess you just weren’t cool enough to call people gay. It was a thing in my high school in Ocala, although since our school colors were green and yellow we were wearing them all the time anyway. “_You’re_ a fag, _I_ just have school spirit!” I was in the computer club…so no, I wasn’t cool enough for much of anything. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/55 "2016-03-08T14:06:19Z")
Yeah, me neither. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/56 "2016-03-08T14:19:18Z")
So what is one supposed to do when St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Thursday (like it does this year) and you want to celebrate your heritage, but you also don’t want anyone to mistake you for gay. Do you just stay home? On a serious note, I’d never heard of this. It seems like it must be something from some older generations. There’s a thing at my current job of wearing purple on Thursdays, but that’s definitely just a culture thing here since it was started by someone a few years ago or something and I’d never heard of it before here. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/57 "2016-03-08T14:20:36Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’ve always associated Thursdays with the colour green, don’t know why. Tuesday is green too, but lighter. Sounds like we may have another synesthete or two on our hands. > **[Synesthesia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia)** > > Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. For instance, people with synesthesia may experience colors when listening to music, see shapes when smelling certain scents, or perceive tastes when looking at words. People who report a lifelong history of such experiences are known as synesthetes. Awareness of s Little i... > [@](#): > > Singer/songwriter Marina and the Diamonds experiences music → color synesthesia and reports colored days of the week.[72] ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/58 "2016-03-09T00:04:42Z")
I don’t know about green, but back in West Texas it was common knowledge that any girl wearing red at the shopping mall on a Friday night was a) a slut looking for a pickup or b) a hooker looking for a john. Both versions were rampant. Needless to say, we guys spent a lot of fruitless hours at the shopping mall on many a Friday night. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/59 "2016-03-09T23:24:09Z")
Where I come from, Thursdays run red with the blood of whimsical synaesthetes. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060/60 "2016-03-12T01:27:19Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > It means absolutely nothing to me unless March 17 happens to fall on a Thursday. Which in fact will happen this month. Which is why I wanted to ask: does it take a break that day? Or is being pinched the price you pay not to tell people that you’re gay? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wearing-green-on-thursdays/140060.md?page=4)