But with Friendly’s which was first? The dessert or the, ah, other meaning? Happy Ending Sundae’s have been around, at least since my parents were kids… I’m less sure about how long the expression has been around.
Note: I’m not sure which one of those was first either. But in case you’re wondering, a 3-way is spaghetti, chili, cheese. You can also get a 4-way or a 5-way (adding onions and/or beans).
When I was in college, on move-in weekend one year they had a huge billboard on one of the two major roads into town that had a picture of a 3-way. The billboard read “It’s called a 3-way and there’s nothing like it.”
The non-Cincinnatians were hooting over the billboard. Two thirds of the Cincinnatians (including me) were scratching our heads and saying “I don’t get it; why is that funny?”
That’s when I learned that outside of Cincinnati the term 3-way has an entirely different meaning, all together.
As far as I know, the R-rated term was popularized in the short lived TV show Mind of the Married Man around 2001. MOTMM was basically HBO trying to recreate the success of Sex and the City from a male perspective.
I mean, you’re right. “Threesome” is the much more common term. But, even in the heart of Cincinnati, if a guy’s gf texts him and says “Hey I was talking to my gf. She wants a 3-way” I’m pretty sure that doesn’t mean “Let’s go to Skyway.”