G-string

For strings on musical instruments, see strings (music).

Woman wearing a G-string

A G-string (alternatively gee-string or gee string) is a type of thong underwear or swimsuit, a narrow piece of cloth, leather, or plastic, that covers or holds the genitals, passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a band around the hips, worn as swimwear or underwear by women and men. The two terms G-string and thong are often used interchangeably; however, they can refer to different pieces of clothing.

Etymology

The origin of the term "G-string" is obscure. Since the 19th century, the term geestring referred to the string which held the loincloth of Native Americans ^[1] and later referred to the narrow loincloth itself. William Safire in his Ode on a G-String quoted the usage of the word "G-string" for loincloth by Harper's Magazine 15 years after Beadle's and suggested that the magazine confused the word with the musical term G-string (i.e., the string for the G note). Safire also mentions the opinion of linguist Robert Hendrickson that G (or gee) stands for groin, which was a taboo word at the time.^[2]

In Australia the term "G-banger" is often used.

In popular culture

Edgar Rice Burroughs dressed his created novel-character, Tarzan, in a G-string for the first time in his book The Son of Tarzan (1914) in chapter 26.^[3] However, Korak, son of Tarzan, used a G-string before his father Tarzan did in the same book (chapter 20).^[4]

See also

• Kowpeenam, an Indian version of G-string

References

1. ^ Beadle, John Hanson (1877). "Western Wilds, and the Men who Redeem Them: An Authentic Narrative". p. 249. http://books.google.com/books?id=W-gTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA249&dq=geestring. 
2. ^ Safire, William (August 4, 1991). "On Language; Ode on a G-String". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/04/magazine/on-language-ode-on-a-g-string.html. 
3. ^ "The Son of Tarzan". http://www.gutenberg.org/files/90/90.txt. "The doe-skin, he fashioned into a loin cloth, the rope he looped over one shoulder, and the knife he thrust into the belt formed by his gee string." 
4. ^ "The Son of Tarzan". http://www.gutenberg.org/files/90/90.txt. "Korak, The Killer, fondled his heavy spear. He played with the grass rope dangling from his G-string." 

External links

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