Eliminates her from consideration.
There’s a definite whiff of “I expect you to treat me in a manner different from how I treat you”. Aside from which I have a visceral “yecch” about anyone who regularly refers to herself as a “lady”.
Can put toilet seat back down.
I think it means “willing to provide oral sex”.
I am reminded of that SNL skit with (I believe) Steve Martin, where he said, “I want to put a woman up on a pedestal—just high enough so I can look up her dress.” I think that’s part of one of Martin’s routines, actually.
I don’t really know what it means to other women, but I can kind of get a queasy feeling when I hear it used. One guy I know who used the “pedestal” comment isn’t a bad guy, but he could be unpleasant sometimes. But I think he truly thought he put women on pedestals.
So, some guys may mean the “knowing how to treat a lady” in the nicest way (polite, considerate, not aggressive or pushy, knows when to back off, thoughtful), but he could also be a clueless dolt who thinks if he opens the door for her then he’s a swell guy.
In my mind, I would hope that “knows how to treat a lady” would mean a nice, decent guy. But all of the qualities he would possess would also be something I’d expect in just about anyone. We all want to be treated with respect and decency.
twickster wannabe? Get yourself over to Cafe Society and enter that in the “what should the ID line say?” contest pronto! 
I’m not unaware of tradtional etiquette, and always notice and appreciate it when the guy goes curbside when we’re walking down the street, or when he holds the door for me or helps me with my coat. The IB (one of my current suitors) has a totally charming way of how he confers with me during waiter interactions that makes me weak in the knees.
That said, I can’t imagine specifying this in the ad. Yeah, if the guy’s a total boor, it’s not going to go past the first date (hell, it probably won’t make it to the first date, if he’s that bad), but I wouldn’t not date someone who let me walk on the outside of the sidewalk.
(This reminds me – I had a boyfriend once who always moved ever so slightly to the right as he walked, and I always move ever so slightly to the left – so we’d always walk with me on the left and him on the right to avoid running into each other.)
To treat a woman like a lady simply means that she is treated by you with all the consideration, courtesy, and politeness with which you would expect your mother or sister to be treated.
And, the custom of men walking on the outside did stem from the time when people in upstairs dwellings simply threw their garbage out the window and (hopefully) into the street.
Hmm - I always heard that it wasn’t garbage that was being thrown out of the upper window (garbage usually being generated in the kitchen, which was always on the lower/ground floor), but rather the emptying of chamberpots from the upstairs bedrooms. The emptier was supposed to yell “Gardee Loo!” before pouring out the contents - which I believe is French for “Guardez L’eau”, or “Watch out for the Water!”. You wouldn’t want to be standing underneath, but with the trajectory of the slurry, I suppose the person on the outside of the sidewalk below would be the person getting splashed. Maybe that’s why men of the period always wore hats outdoors?
I’ve never heard the chamber pot story, but since I was a kid I always walked on the inside.
With my first boyfriends when I hadn’t learned yet, it was almost a dance as you walked somewhere. Everytime you crossed a street you would have to switch positions. If you were holding hands it was easier because they would actually lead you to the other side, almost like a salsa move (we’re Puerto Rican, by the way) Now I do it subconsciously, on the inside with men, and the outside (usually) when walking with other women.
I always heard it was to protect you from run-away carriages back in the old days.
And to me, “Knows how to treat a lady” means don’t treat me like one of the guys.
Perhaps we should ask Dinsdale Pirhana.
Right on!
I like to have doors opened for me and such, but I don’t want to throw on a petticoat. I think common courtesy is fine, with just a bit more thrown in 
That’s a quote that really bothers me. Guys that use this line seem to want to see women as these perfect, ethereal beings. Well, we aren’t. We’re people. I want a guy that sees me as a fellow human being (and a gorgeous gal, as well, of course) and won’t be dissappointed when he finds out I’m not some unobtainable archetype.
By which, of course, we mean the passenger door to the pickup truck, opened by leaning and reaching across her lap, so she can get out at the intersection where you picked her up.
In Canadian French, a man who fails to do this is said to be “afraid of dogs”
Mother trupa to little trupa, trying to teach him some manners:
“Aiye, change de cote, t’as peur des chiens!”
Salut!
Why should he do this?
Holy Jezez!!
This has got to be one of the funniest damn threads I’ve seen in a while…
Personally, what I’m looking for is common courtesy. I don’t mind having the door held open for me–I see it as being “extra polite” as people of all genders and ages do this for each other. At the very least, please keep the door open for me after you’ve gone through. I’d do the same for you. Negative points for letting the door almost hit me in the face.
I can get my own coat just fine. If I’m encumbered by something and you want to help me out, though, that’s great too. Just don’t act smarmy about it though–no flourishes or “humour the lady” smiles.
Pulling out chairs is a bit much.
Basically, I want to be shown consideration as an equal. Anything that smacks of weakness or thinking I’m “unable” to do something myself will raise my hackles.
Generational indicator: I’m 30.
I always thought it was a polite way of saying “has enormous cock”.
We had an enomous cock when I was young. His name was Godzilla, and he looked a lot like this http://www.qsl.net/n8lhg/Aug2803_small.jpg I guess knowing a man was kind to his enomous cock would make him more appealing.
Thanks, elfkin. Morelin was wandering around and I deadpanned, “Wow. That’s a huge cock.” Man, the look on her face…especially when she saw it was a chicken…was priceless.
Only if you knew he wasn’t planning to eat it the first chance he got. Cock-hungry men rarely know how to treat a lady.