# What was the deal with monocles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2008, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-monocles/435261 "2008-01-28T02:09:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-monocles/435261/21 "2008-01-29T12:26:52Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] I wait for the day I meet a person with glasses fastened as a piercing on the face. I’m betting that somebody has done this, but I want to see it in person. [/QUOTE] _Pince_ nez! _Pince_! Not _pierce_! ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-monocles/435261/22 "2008-01-29T13:51:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \* **MissGypsy:** > Doesn’t that mess with your depth perception? My eyes are both very near-sighted, but occasionally I only wear one contact for a day or so, and I tend to run into walls and other large obstacles. I suspect your problem is with the “for a day or so” rather than the one good eye. I use monocular contact lenses - one for distance and one for close work (I am very short sighted in both eyes and now I have presbyopia :smack: ). I was warned about possible problems with depth perception while wearing the lenses but, after a little, while I have had no problem. As noted by **minor7flat5** there are plenty of other clues used when building up a 3-D view of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-monocles/435261/23 "2008-01-29T14:22:51Z")
Ever since I started getting nearsighted, at age 12, I have had different vision in each eye. At first, my right eye was fine, and my left got nearsighted. Later on, I developed astigmatism in my left eye, but the right is still just nearsighted. My depth perception is not very good, and I can’t see those “Magic Eye” pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-monocles/435261/24 "2008-01-29T17:33:03Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] _Pince_ nez! _Pince_! Not _pierce_! [/QUOTE] A pince-nez can’t be used used by mounting it in a piercing. I meant what I said. I await the day I see it in person. Should I have said in a person? ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-monocles/435261/25 "2008-01-29T21:24:55Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] Watching Hogan’s Heroes I saw the proper way it was used in many episodes. Kernal Klink would use it properly, while if asked it’s proper use, Sergent Schultz would say “I know nothing. Nothing!” [/QUOTE] The only reason I opened this thread was to see when the first Colonel Klink reference came along. And I’m sure the spelling was just a pun of some kind. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-monocles/435261/26 "2008-01-29T22:03:01Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Additionally, I’m currently working on a routine in which I get the bill/check and feign surprise at the amount I am expected to pay. I then raise an eyebrow, thus causing the monocle to fall majestically into what remains of my dessert. The eyepiece is retained by a cord to prevent accidents such as you describe but the length of the cord only caters for standing-up surprises, hence the difficulties I’m experiencing in perfecting the sketch without damage to the monocle. [/QUOTE] Dorothy Sayers’ fictional character Lord Peter Wimsey famously wears a monocle. According to the trivia for the BBC production of _Strong Poison_: > [@](#): > > During rehearsals for the scene where Wimsey and Miss Climpson have tea together, Wimsey’s monocle fell into his tea. Despite numerous attempts, they could not recreate this hilarious incident for the camera. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-monocles/435261/27 "2008-01-29T22:13:37Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] It’s not unusual for people to have different vision in each eye. My daughter **needs correction in her left eye, but has bad vision in her right.** She wears glasses, but a monocle woudl do.\ [/QUOTE] Is this a variant of the old saying, “Blind in one eye and can’t see out the other?” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-monocles/435261/28 "2008-01-30T02:05:11Z")
Everyone has a [dominant eye](http://www.nidek.com/dominant.html), either left or right, which they subconsciously use to carry most of the visual workload. As one grows older, a [reading monocle](http://www.nearsights.com/gold_classic_monocle.html) for that dominant eye is an option. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-monocles/435261.md?page=1)