# Who Knows What "Getting the Heisman" Means in the Dating Context? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146 "2006-11-05T02:39:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/41 "2006-11-05T21:43:17Z")
Wow! I’m surprise at all the posters who have never heard it. I am totally familiar with the phrase, “He/She gave me the Heisman” although I’ve never had to use it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/42 "2006-11-06T00:36:24Z")
Never heard of it! Ever heard of it … heard of it … of it … it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/43 "2006-11-06T01:22:18Z")
[QUOTE=Rhiannon8404] Wow! I’m surprise at all the posters who have never heard it. I am totally familiar with the phrase, “He/She gave me the Heisman” although I’ve never had to use it. 😉 [/QUOTE] I think knowledge of the expression might be correlated with knowledge of US (college?) football. Hence, all us foreigners and non-sporty geek types are (or were, until this thread) blissfully ignorant of it. The expression, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/44 "2006-11-06T02:27:23Z")
Never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/45 "2006-11-06T02:38:11Z")
[QUOTE=Rhiannon8404] Wow! I’m surprise at all the posters who have never heard it. [/QUOTE] Same here! It’s not a phrase that I hear very often, but often enough that I don’t feel like it’s horribly outdated or anything. I’m 35, and would expect most people my age to have heard it at least once before. [QUOTE=Sunspace] I think knowledge of the expression might be correlated with knowledge of US (college?) football. [/QUOTE] No doubt that’s how it got started, and I’d expect it to be less known outside the U.S., but I don’t like football, I don’t know anything about it, the college I went to didn’t have a team, and I’ve never seen the trophy in question – yet, I’ve known the expression for years. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/46 "2006-11-06T03:44:24Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Scrappy Hero Pup] So, after having sworn off women for two months in order to get my head straight, I worked up enough gumption to ask a certain cute blonde girl to dinner. After receiving her response, I told my buddy about it at lunch. HIM: “How’d it go with Katie?” ME: “Dude, she gave me the Heisman.” HIM: --blank stare– After explaining it to him, he understood and found it funny. But I was stunned that I had to explain it to him at all. I therefore put it to you all- Are you familiar with this phrase? If so, what does it mean to you? [/QUOTE] Well, I will contribute a data point: I had no clue what it meant. ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/47 "2006-11-06T08:46:26Z")
Knew it, and use it. I actually thought that the more recent “Talk to the hand!” came from it. -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/48 "2006-11-06T09:38:14Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] I thought it meant you were choking on a hunk of meat and she saved you life. [/QUOTE] Heimlich Manoeuvre: ‘Henry Heimlich’s name is known across the globe. Every time he travels, the 83-year-old is greeted by someone with a tale to tell about how the Heimlich Manoeuvre saved their choking mother, father or child.’ > **[BBC NEWS | Health | Heimlich: Still saving lives at 83](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2825971.stm)** > > Dr Henry Heimlich invented the Heimlich Manoeuvre 30 years ago and it is still being used today to save lives across the globe. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/49 "2006-11-06T14:39:12Z")
Never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/50 "2006-11-06T14:40:47Z")
[QUOTE=KRM] Never heard of it. And I would have guessed that it would have been a good thing since every college football player dreams of winning it. [/QUOTE] Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/51 "2006-11-06T17:04:15Z")
Also never heard of it. For those who haven’t seen it, [Heisman Trophy](http://www.msu.edu/~daggy/cop/images/00000025.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/52 "2006-11-06T17:07:06Z")
I have never ever heard it. But I didn’t date a lot, either. ---
**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/53 "2006-11-06T17:20:41Z")
There are times when I’m amazed by the SDMB, and there are times when I am saddened. This is one of those latter times. I love this phrase and use it to kick my friends when they are down (it gets said a lot when we are at bars). We all go through it. That’s what friends are for. It feels great for a guy to do it, but we guys tend not to be as stiff as the women. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/54 "2006-11-06T19:20:35Z")
[QUOTE=Carl Corey] Hmmm. I would have guessed that it meant somebody who was a good kisser, but a lousy lay. This is because many Heisman winners suck when they reach the pros. But your definition makes more sense. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but yours is more amusing. If you start an, ahem, Heisman campaign to officially change the definition, I’ll vote for yours. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![samm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@samm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/55 "2006-11-06T19:23:45Z")
I had never heard the term, but read this entire thread hoping someone would post a picture of the Heisman. That picture is worth 1,000 words. It totally cracked me up when I saw it and now I want to start using the phrase. Thanks **FBG**! ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/56 "2006-11-06T19:28:12Z")
I’d never heard it before, but I understood what it meant as soon as I read the thread title. Funny stuff. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Illinois\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Illinois\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illinois_Boy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/57 "2006-11-06T19:45:36Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Scrappy Hero Pup] I was told that I was “dating myself” by using a metaphor nobody currently uses/understands. I’m trying to get a sense of whether or not that’s the case. [/QUOTE] Afraid I’ve never heard it. And unfortunately, you’ll probably be “dating yourself” until someone does \*\*not \*\* give you the Heisman. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/58 "2006-11-07T02:48:36Z")
> [@Illinois\_Boy](#): > > And unfortunately, you’ll probably be “dating yourself” until someone does not give you the Heisman. Thanks, dude. Kick a guy when he’s down, why don’tcha? 😉 Keep your fingers crossed for a pleasant outcome when your man **Scrappy** asks a certain 6’1" swimmer to a function he’s got this Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/59 "2006-11-07T02:55:29Z")
I thought it was that football player who broke his leg so badly that his thigh bone was sticking out. Which would still be a bad thing to get when asking a woman out. (Doing a little Googling, I was closer than I have any right to be for a football metaphor. [Joe Theisman leg break video.](http://www.extremesportclips.com/viewvideo.php?vid=299) I didn’t watch it, because I don’t want to see a guy breaking his leg so badly that the thigh bone sticks out.) Good luck with the swimmer, **Scrappy**! Hope she doesn’t give you the Theisman. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146/60 "2006-11-07T15:52:14Z")
The funny thing is, the quarterback in question originally pronounced his name “ThEEsmann” until he became a contender for that trophy. Then the pronunciation suddenly changed to the current one. “Joe Theismann. Rhymes with Heisman.” I wish I were making that up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knows-what-getting-the-heisman-means-in-the-dating-context/379146.md?page=4)