On the way to work today, I heard an ad on the radio for a house of ill repute, aka a strip club, which claimed to have "the world's most exotic dancers." What does that even mean? This appears to be a case of an idiom crossing the boundary into the absurd, or, as the case may be, a mixed metaphor.
Let's deconstruct. Dictionary.com defines "exotic" as follows:
exotic adj.
1. From another part of the world; foreign.
2. Intriguingly unusual or different; excitingly strange.
3. Of or involving striptease: an exotic dancer.
It appears that the strip club is somehow confusing definition 3 with definitions 1 and 2. Since an exotic dancer is someone who does a strip tease, I don't see how an exotic dancer can be the MOST exotic dancer unless they somehow do the MOST strip teasing. Perhaps one strips down to the very base of her soul. Unlikely. Perhaps they mean that these strippers are foreign? Come see our foreign strippers, shipped in from India, outsourcing at its best! Also unlikely, and, to be nit-picky, based on definition 1 still somewhat nonsensical: How can something be the most foreign IN THE WORLD? When you consider the scope of the whole world, nothing is technically foreign, unless you're talking about extraterrestrials. What you'd really need to say is "America's Most Exotic Dancers" or, perhaps just clarify the original statement, "The World's Most Exotic Dancers, But We Mean Exotic From An American Perspective". Finally, perhaps our strip club marketers mean to imply definition number 2, that their strippers are the most intriguingly unusual and/or excitingly strange in the world. Perhaps this would be an effective slogan for a circus freak show, but somehow I believe that drunken frat boys are actually looking for the intriguingly USUAL and the excitingly NORMAL. And I suppose it is possible they simply meant that they have the most exotic dancers as in sheer number of exotic dancers, that this particular club has hundreds and thousands of exotic dancers, hence the MOST exotic dancers of anywhere in the world.
In summary, obviously the strip club was using the word "exotic" to mean "beautiful" but got confused by the use of the term "exotic" in "exotic" dancer. I suppose this is a whole lot of hoo-ha for me to make fun of one stupid ad. Be it a lesson for all cheaply made strip-club radio advertisements: DO NOT MIX METAPHORS OR YOU WILL FACE OF THE WRATH OF MY MIGHTY PEN!
Though not really a pen... My mighty keyboard, then.
Good post. Though a little wacky.
This reminds me of a little place I once saw in Pennsylvania (or was it Jersey?) that was called "The World's Best Pancake House*". Underneath was a definition for the asterisk:
* According to the propreitors.
Nifty.
That's pretty funny and I respect those proprietors for whimsically recognizing that abuse of the term "world famous" or "world's best" is rampant in the foodstuff industry. In a previous post I actually discussed the possible meanings of the term "world famous" when applied to restaurants or food items in restaurants.
You can read it here:
http://www.mixedmetaphors.net/index.php?section=blog&subpage=2004_09#000083
I love your post, though I think I would replace "beautiful" with "slutty" in the last paragraph. I think that's the attraction, even more than beauty.
I was curious who else might be abusing "World's Most..." so I did a quick Google search on it. You might be interested to know that
Arthur is the world's most famous Aardvark:
http://pbskids.org/arthur/
Justin Frankel is the word's most dangerous geek:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/5938320?rnd=1098404116735
The fig is the world's most luscious fruit:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006053849X?v=glance
And here is the most moist chocolate cake ever:
http://redskye.typepad.com/red_skye/2004/07/the_most_moist_.html
Jeffrey, I baffle at your confusion.
Jeffrey, I baffle at your confusion.
Jeffrey, I baffle at your confusion.
I would tend to agree that Arthur is the world's most favorite Aadvark. Unless there is some other aadvark more famous in other countries. But, seriously, ask me to name a famour aardvark and Arthur is the only one that comes to mind.
I'm intrigued by the concept of "the most moist chocolate cake." I understand the general appeal of a moist chocolate cake as opposed to a dry, crumbly, Passover-style chocolate cake. But has moistness really overtaken taste-good-ness as the important cake quality? Which would you rather have: a delicious but dry chocolate cake or a moist but nauseating chocolate cake?
As for figs and Justin Frankel, I have no opinion.
Valerie, you appear very baffled at my confusion.
Perhaps Valerie is the blog's most baffled reader.
Although, now that I think of it, "baffle" is a transitive verb; That is, it takes action on a direct object, as in: Jeffrey, you baffle me with your confusion. Where "me" is the direct object. However since Valerie did not provide a direct object then we must infer its existence.
Suggestions:
Jeffrey, I baffle [you] at your confusion.
Jeffrey, I baffle [others] at your confusion.
Jeffrey, I baffle [Matthew] at your confusion.
Jeffrey, I baffle [myself] at your confusion.
Jeffrey, I baffle [the world's most exotic dancers] at your confusion.
I think I like the last option the best. I don't really know what that would look like, but I imagine it would be amusing to watch
Hold on a sec.
If Arthur is the world's most famous Aardvark. And I am Arthur, then I must be the world's most famous Aardvark.
Please bow down to me with the utmost respect.