The apparent meaning behind black rings worn aboard holiday cruises has been uncovered by a former ship employee.
Nothing is out of bounds while traveling across the seven seas it seems, as 28-year-old Lucy Southerton openly discussed her brushes with a certain community during a YouTube video in 2023.
Lucy clocked up 10 years on ocean liners, so it's fair to say she's seen it all when it comes to passengers' hidden ways.
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In the clip, which boasts north of one million views, the Brummie revealed how wearing black and pineapple-themed jewelry can be seen as a rather bold statement - and perhaps not for the reasons you would expect.
According to the former cruise ship worker, it's essentially announcing that you're a swinger.
It's not set-in-stone code generated by cruise companies or anything like that though, the signal was merely dreamt up by members of the community for discretion.
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Lucy first encountered the ring's true meaning during her time working in a cruise spa.
She and a fellow crew member were about to massage a couple when the latter noticed their matching pineapple necklaces. Lucy complimented their cuteness before asking what it represented.
Apparently, the couple burst into laughter and explained: "Look, we're swingers. This is how people can identify us as swingers."
In the video, Lucy added: "One other that I've heard is there's a black ring on your right hand."
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Black rings don't always indicate its wearer's swinging interests, however, because there's always just the 'fashion statement' argument when it's placed on a specific hand.
Elsewhere in the video, Lucy dug into the various terminology used throughout the 'lifestyle' and how swingers apparently advertise their status in different ways.
"There is a unicorn, which is basically a woman who wants to swing on her own - so wants to sleep with a couple," she said. "And then a rhino is a single man willing to swing.
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"A mermaid is a married woman willing to swing with a couple on her own, and then rainbow is pretty obvious that they're happy to swing with everyone and anyone."
The phrase 'DDF' means 'drug and disease free', while HMP depicts someone as 'height, weight, proportional' so that other swingers know they're not overweight.
Reacting to the revelations (or is it?) via Reddit, some wary internet users weren't so convinced.
"So the thing about the black ring on the right hand is that it isn't reliable," wrote one person. "Honestly, no 'signal' about swingers is reliable unless it's a giant sign that says 'I/we are swingers and want to f**k, come talk to us about it and f**k!
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"Anyone could wear a black ring on either hand. Anyone can wear a shirt with a pineapple on it, anyone can put flamingos on their lawn, anyone can wear an anklet... (all swinger 'signs' I've heard of)."
It was even rubbished by a member of that very community, who shared: "I have a ceramic pineapple in my library and 4 pink flamingos in my backyard. Do I swing? Yep. Are they signals to the general community? Nope.
"The pineapple was an impulse purchase from HomeGoods and I think plastic lawn flamingos are tacky and hilarious. I love them. There's no deep meaning. You'll be hard pressed to find someone wearing a black ring that is trying to send you a message."
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Travel, Cruise ship
Dan Seddon