To the Point

To escort young lovers through the delicate orthodoxy of England's Edwardian era, G.R.M. Devereux synthesized in Lover's Dictionary a comprehensive language of flowers. Each blossom wafted a specific message (dandelions: "go"), and the manner of handing it to the lady became part of the unspoken word. A flower inclined to his right said, "I love you," to his left, "Thou art radiant with beauty."

Lacking either a Devereux or Edwardian subtlety, youngsters at San Diego high and junior high schools have found a way to be highly explicit. A girl arranges the sword-shaped pins on her cardigan in a variety of patterns: 1) horizontally parallel (come on, she's unattached); 2) parallel, but at an angle (she has a boy friend, but he's not a steady); 3) swords in a V (she's interested in going steady); 4) crossed swords (poison, she's got a steady); and 5) single vertical sword (get lost, she's married). The boys wear single swords in one of two positions--blade straight down if he is already married, up if he's on the prowl.

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