Riverboat style?

March 31, 2006 10:54 PM

"Regular or River boat style?" Some mildly NSFW text inside...

So my boyfriend caught a rather lame show on Fox and at one point the main character needed some help with getting it up for a medical reason. Of course a cute blonde character then offered him assistance, giving the option of "regular or riverboat style."

So after much back and forth speculation and some Googling neither of us could figure it out. Anyone heard of this? Creative suggestions also encouraged since the phrase could just be a red herring.

Here's the synopsis if that'll help any. (Mentioned at the very bottom)

posted by wilky to Media & Arts (15 answers total)

Circumsized?
posted by Napierzaza at 11:04 PM on March 31, 2006

wet?
posted by edgeways at 11:37 PM on March 31, 2006

Best answer: on reflection and poking around google I suspect the writers are trying to start a mem.
What is associated with riverboats?
-Gambling
-Big Paddle wheel (which goes round and round
-Older boats are steam powered
-There may be a (false, or at least not exclusive) association with southern culture.
-?

I fail to see how any of these things can be easily linked to *cough* manual (and or oral?) manipulation of the male sex organ

The one thing the net is good for is sex related and if nothing comes up "riverboat style" in direct reference to sexual activity I'm guessing it's made up with the hope it'll be picked up in pop culture.
posted by edgeways at 11:49 PM on March 31, 2006

Yeah, it sounds like a made up term to me too.
posted by cillit bang at 12:23 AM on April 1, 2006

If Urban Dictionary doesn't have it, it must be made up.

So I'm going to make it up on the spot: in one of those sex-related conversations everyone has in freshman year, my female neighbour asks if any of us have ever masturbated by rolling the penis, like you were trying to start a fire with sticks. She claims her boyfriend did it. I totally don't believe her.

RIVERBOAT STYLE.
posted by chrominance at 12:58 AM on April 1, 2006

Okay, I wasn't the only one who was wondering wtf 'Riverboat Style' is.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 1:28 AM on April 1, 2006

How 'bout one hand after the other, always going in the same direction. Kinda like a paddlewheel.
posted by Prince Nez at 1:29 AM on April 1, 2006

How about doing it unprotected, where you're "gambling" on your partner's health.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 3:16 AM on April 1, 2006

I think supersexyFlanders and edgeways' answers are both the same thing as well as the right answer. What a strange topic to consider first thing in the morning.
posted by maniactown at 4:09 AM on April 1, 2006

Was there anything in the context of the show that might possibly make the "riverboat style" line make any sense whatsoever? Who was the blonde character? Where were they? What had they just done? More often than a line like this is just a bad joke (in the sense that you don't have to query the hive mind if a joke is good).
posted by Hildago at 8:20 AM on April 1, 2006

Best answer: Odds are that they wanted something that sounded dirty, but that the censors couldn't prove was dirty.

If you've heard the story about Clerks: the Cartoon and the quest for a way to say blowjob without the word "blowjob," you'll understand what might motivate them to do so.
posted by RobotHero at 8:31 AM on April 1, 2006

Reminds me of the Venus Butterfly, which started out as a meaningless bit of sex talk on L.A. Law and eventually acquired a definition (NSFW dirty talk at link).
posted by barjo at 10:06 AM on April 1, 2006

Reminds me of how writers for The Simpsons slipped in a line about "wedgies, wet willies, or even the dreaded rear admiral." The dreaded what? Sounded so delicious, and I wondered what it was for a long time until I Googled it. Disappointing, indeed, but I was happy to know I wasn't the only one who was intrigued and stumped.
posted by donpedro at 11:30 AM on April 1, 2006

i'm guessing you are talking about the Fox show 'The Loop', my wife and i noticed that rather than opt for a Arrested Development/ Reno 911 documentary style with the obscenities [bleeped] out, The Loop seems to enjoy using nonsensical swears, like "suck-licker", stuff that sounds dirty, but really isn't. i suspect that the riverboat style is just an extension of this.
posted by quin at 3:56 PM on April 1, 2006

And now life follows art, river boat style now has an Urban Dictionary entry.
posted by Mitheral at 7:08 PM on March 18, 2007