Tall, dark and handsome

Contents: Meaning | Origin | Spread


What does Tall, dark and handsome mean?

Tall, dark and handsome refers to a man who is very appealing to the majority of people, mainly describing a swoon worthy leading man.

The phrase is often found in romantic fictions, which are mainly targeted towards women.

via MEME

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What's the origin of Tall, dark and handsome?

The term became popular and came to prominent use in the early 1900s and was commonly used in the 1920s Hollywood to describe the back then very famous Italian Actor Rudolph Valentino.

The earliest known appearance of the phrase “tall, dark and handsome” is from a paper titled The Story of Helster Malpas written by L.E.L.

It was published by The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal in 1833. It also appears that up until the 20th century, this phrase was used to describe both men and women.

Spread and Usage

How did Tall, dark and handsome spread?

The popularity of the phrase spiked when the 1941 Tall, Dark and Handsome comedy and crime movie was released.

Even before 1833, the idea behind the phrase “tall, dark and handsome” has been expressed through literature.

In the famous classic Pride and Prejudice (1813) written by Jane Austin, she refers to a leading man character, Mr. Darcy, as “tall, dark and handsome”, even though she doesn’t exactly use the same description.

External References

Published: 09/02/2020 by | Last updated: 09/02/2020 | 671 views | Report error

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