9 out of 10 Dentists Find This *HOT*... and ironically named

April 20, 2004 4:25 PM

I don't bite....haaaaaard. Making the commuter train ride more interesting: Bluetoothing for anonymous sex. Called Toothing (message board, may be NSFW), randy Brits are using the wonders of technology to find themselves a bit o' fun after a long day's work. Just set your wireless device to discover other nearby devices, send out the 'standard greeting' and get ready to get bizzay. Why do it? Well, the Toothing FAQ says it all: "It's fun! And exciting! And you can meet some wonderful new people and make proper friends. " Well, of course! And don't think it's just a British thing, Toothing's goin' international! So, reach out... reach out and touch someone. Don't forget to floss!
posted by tittergrrl (20 comments total)

All Hail Bluetooth
posted by thomcatspike at 4:30 PM on April 20, 2004

My God this is such utter nonsense and falls into "Those Wacky Brits" stories that make the rounds in US fluff meeja. It's about as exciting as flash mobs, but cannily updated simply because you can say "flesh mobs" and get a good headline or Google hit on your blog. For further information, please consult:

Sex-Crazed Brits Just Doing It Everywhere, Like, Everywhere Man, You Can't Stop Them, They're Like Dogs In Heat Or Something, And Dude, I Gotta Get Me Some Of That
posted by meehawl at 4:34 PM on April 20, 2004

> cannily updated simply because you can say "flesh mobs" and get a good headline

I was going to say "toothing fairy." You read it here first.
posted by jfuller at 4:53 PM on April 20, 2004

It's funny they use the term toothing when brits are stereotyped for their poor teeth quality and lack of care. Also, I saw this article on Wired a long time ago, what took so long for you to post it?
posted by banished at 5:05 PM on April 20, 2004

Bluetooth phone set to discover?

I think not.

And who comes up with these phrases anyway? Bluesnarfing? Sigh...
posted by dmt at 5:15 PM on April 20, 2004

Also, I saw this article on Wired a long time ago, what took so long for you to post it?

The article's a little less than a month old, yes. My friend sent me the link to the article this afternoon, which lead me to the message board which I found more interesting. I debated a bit on whether or not to lead with the article or the message board, but decided on the article in the end since that's where I found the link (and found out about the practice).

I could care less about the British stuff (except that I made a BONA-FIDE GENIUS Austin Powers joke), I just thought that the general use of bluetooth to find anonymous sex and the nascent community bulletin board to be the "money shot" sotospeak.

In retrospect, perhaps I should have formulated my FPP better. :/
posted by tittergrrl at 5:23 PM on April 20, 2004

Umm... this is like flashmobbing for sex, right?
posted by swerdloff at 5:42 PM on April 20, 2004

Yes, but it's less of a failure when only two people turn up.
posted by fvw at 6:33 PM on April 20, 2004

tittergrrl: i find you guilty of overanalyzing. Your sentence is to *yawn* in 3 threads of your choosing. People have become so accustomed to "newsfilter" that they act disappointed if it isn't.

Swerdloff: no, the chosen technology is the thing. Bluetooth=close proximity=check out the bird before you commit, etc.

(on preview) interesting the metafilter dictionary suggested bucktooth for bluetooth. to me anyway.
posted by Ynoxas at 7:52 PM on April 20, 2004

Warfucking.
posted by pemulis at 8:23 PM on April 20, 2004

I'm leary of anything regarding sex that involves the color blue. But then, I'm a guy.
posted by Dark Messiah at 8:29 PM on April 20, 2004

I wonder how many times two awkward guys meet, look each other in the eye, and bolt.
posted by dig_duggler at 8:36 PM on April 20, 2004

>It's funny they use the term toothing when brits are stereotyped for their poor teeth quality and lack of care.

Uh, they got the FREE national health which does a reasonable job of looking after teeth. How's the yank system going?
posted by skinsuit at 8:42 PM on April 20, 2004

It's on Reuters. I wonder if this media fad will last longer than the previous fondness for stories about "dogging" and "cottaging". And apparently, thanks to Kevin Spacey's misaadventures, weird tales of walking the dog at 4am in public parks.
posted by meehawl at 8:46 PM on April 20, 2004

If you don't have a Bluetooth phone, maybe you could write Toothing? on your forehead, along with your cell phone number and wait for an SMS.
posted by dg at 12:03 AM on April 21, 2004

I would have posted it last month, too, but I've had no opportunity, what with all the crazy orgies I've been arranging, cups of tea I've been drinking, affairs with David Beckham I've been having and - of course - meeting the Queen. Pip pip!
posted by Pericles at 1:14 AM on April 21, 2004

Hmm... whatever amount of actual toothing did exist will now, I imagine, be killed by single men sitting and sending 'Toothing?' as quickly as they can to any bluetooth phone in the vicinity.

The way Americans seem to think about us British people is endlessly amusing, though. My teeth are rather yellow, admittedly, but that's... uh... dark enamel. Seriously, no amount of cleaning fixes that.

Sigh. I'm guess I'm off to watch the footy at the pub, then on for fish and chips. Hmm... actually, you know, that's not such a bad idea.
posted by reklaw at 2:19 AM on April 21, 2004

"Hey everyone! I've got the internet in my pants!"
posted by petebest at 10:00 AM on April 21, 2004

This looks to me like just a promotional gimmick for bluetooth products.
posted by bingo at 2:15 PM on April 21, 2004

That's an interesting take on it, Bingo.

I'm beginning to believe that the marketers have just lately figured out how to best hoodwink the digerati. Subservient Chicken, that jerk with the religious email scam, "toothing" and so on... they're getting us MeFi'ers talking about them, and I think that's an important indicator.
posted by five fresh fish at 4:15 PM on April 21, 2004