Throughout the series, Jeff describes a number of formalised social concepts to which he has given some thought.
The Zone
The Zone is the period when a relationship is ending but not yet completely over, during which Jeff argues that both parties are still entitled to all the sexual perks. In the first episode of the first series, Jeff hails Steve as the new king of The Zone for arranging a date with Susan whilst having sex with his then-girlfriend Jane.
The Unflushable
An
unflushable is somebody that you have a relationship with who you can not get rid of. The term
unflushable is used by Jeff to describe Jane, as Steve has tried breaking up with her four times and has not succeeded yet. Also Jeff calls Patrick an unflushable when he first meets him, because he just got dumped by Susan and is still hanging around.
Porn Buddies
The concept of
porn buddies is introduced in the episode "Flushed" and is one of the first indications that we are dealing with a man whose perspective on life is not only different, but often externally verbalised.
While at work, Susan asks if Jeff knows Steve well, and Jeff says that they are porn buddies. Porn buddies are very close friends who have promised each other that in the event of the other's sudden death, the survivor ("... upset though they may be...") will rush over to the deceased's home and remove all of their pornography before parents or other loved ones can find it. The survivor, of course, will get to keep the porn he has retrieved. ("Your best friend's dead, but there's a bright side!")
The concept of porn buddies has been credited by writer
Brad Meltzer as the initial inspiration for his
Green Arrow storyline
The Archer's Quest.
The Giggle Loop
The
giggle loop is the increasing urge to laugh during a moment of solemnity or silence. Jeff's standard illustration of the giggle loop is that of stacking pint glasses in a tower; each pint representing one iteration of the loop, and the eventual fall and costly breakage representing the giggler's credibility."To know about the giggle loop, is to become part
of the giggle loop."
The Nudity Buffer
The
nudity buffer is a term that describes the time span between seeing an attractive woman and imagining her naked. After this buffer has elapsed Jeff - and, he supposes, men in general - find it impossible to interact with said woman because they are imagining her naked in the meantime. Jeff specifically "destroyed a water cooler" after attempting to converse with a women after the nudity buffer had expired.
The Sock Gap
The
sock gap refers to the finite window in which socks can be safely removed during foreplay without jeopardising one's chance of obtaining penetrative sex. Jeff's advice is that socks should be removed after shoes but before trousers. "Miss it, and suddenly you’re a naked man in socks. No self respecting woman would ever let a naked man in socks do the
squelchy with her."
Captain Subtext
Captain Subtext is mentioned in the episode
Her Best Friend's Bottom. He is a mysterious figure who, according to Jeff, "lived in the attic and had secret meetings with my mother". He is equipped with a special "helmet of truth detection" that can process what someone says and extract what they are really saying, i.e., the sub-textual message.
During Jeff's youth, his mother apparently told him that whenever he told a lie, the captain would know this, and sneak into Jeff's room at night to remove a segment from his penis. During this episode, there is an extended sequence in which the helmet is indicated to be translating what each character is saying.
The Prickles, the Blurts and the Headlaugh
These are the sequential behaviours of people obviously telling a lie: nervous facial tingling and blushing, speaking too quickly, culminating in an exaggerated and fake laugh. During Jeff's explanation of this, the audience sees the sequence of events happening to Sally while she insists that nothing is the matter.
The Melty Man
The
Melty Man is the "arch-enemy of trouser confidence", causing men to lose their erections when they are in bed with a woman, by making them think too much about what they are doing and if they are doing it right. Jeff describes him in
The Melty Man Cometh as "The arch enemy of trouser confidence,
Professor Moriarty in groin form,
Darth Vader... without the helmet."
According to Jeff and Steve who, uniquely, agrees with Jeff about this character, you can't say his name, or even think about him, without him coming to "do his evil work inside your terrified pants".
The Sentence Of Death
As the one-year anniversary of Steve and Susan's first date approaches, Jeff prepares Steve for the worst, the five words: "Where is this relationship going."
The Crying Game
Introduced in Patrick's imaginary communication with Jeff and Steve while he psyched up for sex with Sally. Jeff merely warns Patrick about the Crying Game without going into specifics. He was probably talking about the film
The Crying Game which, as it is about an attractive woman who turns out to be a trans-gendered person, could conceivably bring about impotence (i.e., The Melty Man) if thought about during sex.
N.A.T.
N.A.T. stands for
Nose Avoidance Tilting and refers to the slight tilting of the head two people may unconsciously perform while standing opposite each other when there is an attraction between them, as if preparing for a kiss. This seems to be the only concept of Jeff's that Steve understands, as evidenced by the fact that Steve answers Patrick instead of Jeff. N.A.T., brought up by Jeff in the episode
Naked, is a sure sign that someone's interested in you, yet Jeff finds himself unable to act on the hint when he experiences it with Julia in that episode.
V.A.A.
V.A.A. stands for
Visual Access Angle and applies to women's skirts. It refers to the location in a room or area where there is a clear view up the woman's skirt. "All you have to do is tilt your head, change seats, or accidentally fall on the floor, and there is a clear line of sight between you and 'base camp'" - that is, the woman's underwear or genitalia.
Porn Jelly
Porn Jelly (also referred to as
liquid porn and
edible porn) is a product that currently only exist in Jeff's mind, it is the jelly (
Jell-O in the US) that is left over at the end of a woman's jelly wrestling contest, except in bottled form. Jeff believes it's a missed opportunity to simply throw the jelly away, and that it could instead be bottled and sold, claiming that "the human race's two most favourite things meet at last... in dessert form!"
Eye Slippage
With heterosexual pornography, Jeff argues that there's always the possibility of
eye slippage. When you are reaching the climax during
masturbation and your eye accidentally slips from the woman to the man, it could cause a lower whiplash effect (which is why Steve states that he is "against blokes in porn").
Originally Posted by Sensual Delights
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