Rice Purity Test Questions Explained: What the Most Confusing Items Mean
Some Rice Purity Test questions use older slang, indirect wording, or expressions that may not be immediately clear.
That can make it difficult to decide what a question is actually asking.
This guide explains some of the most commonly misunderstood terms and questions in simple language so you can interpret the questionnaire more consistently.
The goal is not to create new “official rules” for the Rice Purity Test. The questionnaire has changed over time, and different online versions may use slightly different wording.
If you have not taken the quiz yet, you can complete the full Rice Purity Test first.
What Does MPS Mean in the Rice Purity Test?
MPS stands for “Member of the Preferred Sex.”
In the context of the Rice Purity Test, the phrase generally refers to a person you are romantically or sexually attracted to.
The term appears in older versions of the questionnaire and functions as shorthand without naming a specific gender.
For example, a question mentioning:
“a member of the preferred sex”
is essentially asking about an experience involving someone you are attracted to.
The wording can sound dated today, which is why many people find it confusing.
What Does “Danced Without Leaving Room for Jesus” Mean?
This older expression may be unfamiliar to people who have never heard it used at school or social dances.
“Leaving room for Jesus” was a humorous way of describing keeping some physical space between two people while dancing.
So:
“Danced without leaving room for Jesus”
generally means dancing very closely with another person, with little or no space between your bodies.
It is essentially an old-fashioned way of referring to close or intimate dancing.
What Does “Kissed Horizontally” Mean?
“Kissed horizontally” generally means kissing someone while both people are lying down.
The phrase is intentionally indirect.
In ordinary interpretation, the key difference is that the people are lying down rather than standing or sitting while kissing.
What Does “Blue Balls” Mean?
“Blue balls” is informal slang for temporary discomfort sometimes associated with prolonged sexual arousal without orgasm.
The Rice Purity Test uses the term informally rather than as a medical diagnosis.
The phrase usually refers to temporary aching or discomfort following sexual arousal.
What Does “Seen or Been Seen by Another Person in a Sensual Context” Mean?
Questions using wording such as “sensual context” generally refer to situations involving sexual or intimate interest rather than ordinary situations such as changing clothes in a locker room or receiving medical care.
Because the wording is broad, individual circumstances can differ.
The best approach is to interpret the question according to the ordinary meaning of the phrase rather than trying to create a highly technical definition.
What Does “Gone Through the Motions of Intercourse While Fully Dressed” Mean?
This phrase generally refers to imitating sexual intercourse while both people remain clothed.
The wording describes the motion or physical behavior rather than actual intercourse.
It is one of several questions in the Rice Purity Test that distinguishes between different levels of physical intimacy.
What Does “Ingested Someone Else’s Genital Secretion” Mean?
This is one of the more clinical-sounding questions in the questionnaire.
The wording refers specifically to ingesting genital fluids during sexual activity.
Because individual circumstances differ, answer according to whether the literal wording applies to your experience.
The phrase sounds unusually formal because the Rice Purity Test contains a mixture of slang, indirect wording, and more clinical terminology.
What Does “Faked Sobriety to Parents or Teachers” Mean?
This generally means pretending to be sober when you had actually consumed alcohol or another intoxicating substance.
For example, someone might deliberately change the way they speak or behave so a parent, teacher, or another authority figure does not realize they are intoxicated.
The key idea is intentionally trying to appear sober.
What Does “Had an Alcoholic Blackout” Mean?
An alcohol-related blackout generally refers to gaps in memory for events that occurred while a person was intoxicated.
A person experiencing a blackout may have remained awake, talked to people, moved around, or participated in activities but later be unable to remember some or all of what happened.
A blackout is different from simply falling asleep after drinking.
The phrase in the questionnaire is asking about loss of memory associated with intoxication.
What Does “Booty Call” Mean?
“Booty call” is slang for contacting someone primarily to arrange a casual sexual encounter, often on short notice.
The phrase commonly refers to a phone call, text message, or other communication made mainly for that purpose.
It does not necessarily describe the nature of the entire relationship between the people involved.
What Does “Mile High Club” Mean?
The “Mile High Club” is an informal expression referring to people who have engaged in sexual activity while aboard an aircraft.
The phrase is not the name of an actual organization or club.
It is simply slang that has been used for many years.
What Does “Been Walked in on During a Sexual Act” Mean?
This generally means another person unexpectedly entered or saw you while you were involved in a sexual activity.
The wording focuses on being unexpectedly observed rather than intentionally involving another person.
What Does “Committed an Act of Vandalism” Mean?
Vandalism generally refers to intentionally damaging, defacing, or destroying property belonging to someone else or to the public.
Examples can include deliberately breaking property, damaging signs, or writing on property without permission.
The questionnaire does not define the legal threshold for vandalism, so this should not be treated as legal advice or a legal assessment.
What Does “Run From the Police” Mean?
This wording generally refers to deliberately attempting to escape or avoid police after being approached, pursued, or confronted.
It is different from simply avoiding an area where police are present.
Again, the Rice Purity Test is not a legal questionnaire, so the wording should be interpreted in its ordinary everyday sense.
What Does “Been Questioned by the Police” Mean?
This usually means having police officers formally or directly ask you questions about an incident, suspected activity, or situation.
Casual conversation with a police officer would not normally be understood in the same way.
However, the Rice Purity Test does not provide detailed legal definitions, so individual situations may vary.
What Does “Had the Police Called on You” Mean?
This generally means another person contacted law enforcement because of something you were doing or were believed to be involved in.
It does not necessarily mean that police arrived, that you were arrested, or that you committed an offense.
The question refers only to the fact that someone contacted the police.
What Does “Been Arrested” Mean?
Being arrested generally means being taken into legal custody by law enforcement.
This is different from simply being questioned, stopped, or asked to provide identification.
Because legal procedures vary by location, the questionnaire should not be treated as providing a legal definition of arrest.
What Does “Been Handcuffed” Mean?
The questionnaire generally uses this phrase literally: having handcuffs placed on you.
However, the context of the experience may vary significantly.
The Rice Purity Test does not weigh experiences differently based on why they happened. Every selected item affects the score in the same basic way.
How Should You Interpret “Have You Ever” Questions?
Many Rice Purity Test items effectively ask whether you have ever had a particular experience.
The most literal interpretation is that a single occurrence can make the experience applicable.
For example, if something happened once rather than repeatedly, it may still match a question that asks whether it has ever happened.
However, the Rice Purity Test is not a standardized scientific assessment.
There is no official scoring authority deciding how every ambiguous situation must be interpreted.
The most useful approach is to read each question carefully and answer according to the wording as consistently as possible.
What If a Rice Purity Test Question Is Ambiguous?
Some questions can reasonably be interpreted in more than one way.
If that happens, avoid spending too much time trying to find a perfect technical definition.
Ask yourself:
Does my experience reasonably match the ordinary meaning of this question?
If yes, you can answer accordingly.
If you genuinely believe the wording does not apply, answer based on your own interpretation.
Consistency is generally more useful than trying to find a hidden “correct” answer.
Why Do Some Rice Purity Test Questions Sound Old-Fashioned?
The Rice Purity Test has a long history.
The earliest documented Rice purity survey dates to 1924, but that early questionnaire contained only 10 questions.
Different and much longer versions appeared over later decades, including a 150-question version documented in 1988.
As the questionnaire evolved, some older expressions and terminology remained associated with different versions of the test.
That helps explain why phrases such as MPS, leaving room for Jesus, and other older slang can sound unusual today.
For the full timeline, see our History of the Rice Purity Test.
Are All Rice Purity Test Questions Official?
There is no single modern authority controlling every version of the questionnaire published online.
Different websites may:
- change wording;
- modernize older phrases;
- rearrange questions;
- add explanations;
- remove certain questions;
- or use slightly different versions.
That means two websites describing themselves as the Rice Purity Test may not always contain completely identical wording.
For this reason, it is more useful to understand the questionnaire as an evolving tradition than as a permanently fixed scientific assessment.
Do Different Interpretations Affect Your Score?
They can.
If one person interprets an ambiguous question broadly while another interprets it narrowly, their answers may differ even if they have had similar experiences.
That is one of the limitations of comparing Rice Purity scores too precisely.
The score is based entirely on the answers selected.
For a broader explanation of these limitations, see Is the Rice Purity Test Accurate?
How Can You Answer More Consistently?
You can make your own answers more consistent by following a few simple principles.
Read the full question before answering.
Use the ordinary meaning of the wording rather than trying to invent additional conditions.
If the question asks whether something has ever happened, consider whether the experience occurred at least once.
If an older term is unclear, look up its meaning before answering.
Most importantly, do not choose an answer simply because you want a particular final score.
Understanding the wording can help your result reflect your interpretation of the questionnaire more consistently.
Does the Rice Purity Test Have Right or Wrong Answers?
No.
The Rice Purity Test is not an exam.
There is no correct score and no score you are expected to achieve.
Each answer simply changes the total number of selected experiences.
A higher score means fewer listed experiences were selected, while a lower score means more were selected.
If you want to understand the scoring system in more detail, see our Rice Purity Test Score Meaning guide.
Should You Compare Your Answers With Other People?
You can compare scores or answers casually with friends if everyone involved is comfortable doing so.
However, two people can interpret some questions differently.
They can also receive the same final score while selecting completely different experiences.
That makes the Rice Purity Test useful as a social quiz, but not as a precise scientific comparison between people.
Final Thoughts
The Rice Purity Test contains a mixture of straightforward questions, older slang, indirect expressions, and wording that can occasionally be ambiguous.
Terms such as MPS, booty call, blue balls, mile-high club, and leaving room for Jesus can be confusing if you have never encountered them before.
Understanding the wording can help you answer the questionnaire more consistently without treating the explanations as official scientific definitions.
The most important thing to remember is that the Rice Purity Test is an informal experience checklist.
It is not a standardized exam, personality assessment, medical test, or measure of someone’s character.
If you are ready to try it, you can take the Rice Purity Test and calculate your score from the full 100-question questionnaire.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does MPS mean in the Rice Purity Test?
MPS stands for Member of the Preferred Sex. In the context of the questionnaire, it generally refers to someone you are romantically or sexually attracted to.
What does “leaving room for Jesus” mean?
It is an older humorous expression referring to keeping space between two people while dancing. Dancing without leaving room for Jesus generally means dancing very closely.
What does “kissed horizontally” mean?
It generally means kissing someone while both people are lying down.
What is a booty call?
A booty call is slang for contacting someone primarily to arrange a casual sexual encounter, often on short notice.
What is the Mile High Club?
The Mile High Club is an informal expression referring to people who have engaged in sexual activity aboard an aircraft.
What does an alcoholic blackout mean?
It generally refers to memory gaps for events that occurred while a person was intoxicated, even though they may have remained awake during those events.
Does doing something once count?
If a question asks whether you have “ever” had an experience, the most literal interpretation is that a single occurrence can apply. However, the Rice Purity Test is not a standardized assessment with an official authority defining every ambiguous situation.
Are Rice Purity Test questions the same on every website?
No. Different websites may use slightly different versions, wording, ordering, or explanations.
Can interpreting a question differently change my score?
Yes. Because the test is self-reported, different interpretations of ambiguous wording can affect which questions someone selects and therefore change the final score.