LifeTimes Network Magazine

A better Valentine’s Day

Valentine John Gray’s 1992 bestselling book, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, was based on the premise that men and women live on different planets when it comes to relationships.

Gray has now published a sequel, Why Mars And Venus Collide, which attempts to show how to improve relationships by understanding how men and women cope with life and stress.

Here are six points from the book on how to make your man a better partner …

Are you a gooseberry?

Romance

Are you a gooseberry?

Gooseberries In romantic terms, what is a gooseberry, and why are they named after a sour, hairy, sickly-green fruit?

A gooseberry is generally an unwanted third party on a date or reluctantly accompanying a loved-up couple. It traces its origins back to the early 19th century and refers to a tactful chaperone who “picks gooseberries” while the couple canoodles nearby.

Partridge’s Dictionary of Slang thinks it derives from …

Get out and strut your stuff

Romance

Adapted from “Latin Love Lessons” by Charlotte Higgins, Short Books

We’re not going to get a date by sitting at home. Ovid insists we get out there into the town or city and create our own opportunities to meet people.

Be bold, he cries, talk to those girls hanging out at the temple of Palatine Apollo or in Pompey’s portico — or even at a nightclub.

For girls, never, ever, turn down an invitation to a party, is his advice. …