Question of the day

[make_your_move]

Black and white stripes.... if they're horizontal they mean 'prisoner'. If they're vertical they mean 'pirate'. Why?

Comments

theory:

[sunnidae]

If, when Pirates of Penzance (or whoever used it first and made the meme spread) first came out, horizontal stripes were already in use by inmates, the costume-designers would've used vertical so as to differentiate. :)

Maybe.

And horizontal for inmates so the guards could play tic-tac-toe through the bars? I dunno. :)