wedgie
{{Short description|Forcibly pulling a person's underpants}}
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{{About|the wardrobe malfunction|other uses|Wedge (disambiguation){{!}}Wedge}}
A wedgie is the act of forcibly pulling a person's underpants upwards from the back. The act is often performed as a school prank or a form of bullying.
Wedgies are commonly featured in popular works, either as a form of low comedy or as a behaviour representative of bullying. In such works, briefs are usually the type of underpants that are worn by the victim.[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wedgie Wedgie.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118154705/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wedgie |date=2007-11-18 }} The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2007 via Dictionary.com.[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNSWgL02c6QC&dq=wedgie+bully&pg=PP4 No More Bullies], School Counselor Resources.
A wedgie can also occur in artistic gymnastics, particularly females who wear leotards.{{cite web | url=https://people.com/style/rio-olympics-2016-gymnastics-rules-nastia-liukin/ | title=Rio 2016: Nastia Liukin's Olympics Style Rules }}
Dangers
Wedgies, especially when performed on males, can be dangerous, potentially causing testicular or scrotal damage. An incident in 2004 involving a ten-year-old boy required reattachment of a testicle to the scrotum.{{cite web|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Emergency-operation-after-school-prank.899144.jp |title=Emergency operation after school prank |newspaper=Yorkshire Post |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110171539/http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/local-stories/emergency-operation-after-school-prank-1-2552073 |date=2004-12-02 |archive-date=2014-01-10 |access-date=2021-03-15}}
Variations
As a prank or form of bullying, there are a number of variants to the normal, or traditional wedgie. It is impractical to list every variant, as the names and processes can be rather subjective; however, there are a few better-known variants of the wedgie.
- The melvin is a variant where the victim's underpants are pulled up from the front, to cause injury, or, at least, severe pain to the victim's genitals.{{cite news |last=Curran |first=David |date=4 January 2007 |title=Gwyneth And 'The Atomic Wedgie' / The attempt to prove the actress wrong after she slams American dinner party chatter is beyond a disaster. |work=SFGATE |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2007/01/04/gwyneth.DTL |access-date=7 July 2009}}
- The atomic wedgie entails hoisting the waistband of the receiver's underwear up and over their head.
- The hanging wedgie is a variant in which the victim is hung by their underpants, elevated above the ground.{{cite news |last=Stuever |first=Hank |date=2 September 2002 |title=At School, a Most Uncomfortable Subject |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/158159441.html?dids=158159441:158159441&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=SEP+02%2C+2002&author=Hank+Stuever&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=At+School%2C+a+Most+Uncomfortable+Subject&pqatl=google |url-status= |access-date=7 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413063907/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/158159441.html?dids=158159441:158159441&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=SEP+02%2C+2002&author=Hank+Stuever&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=At+School%2C+a+Most+Uncomfortable+Subject&pqatl=google |archive-date=13 April 2010}}
- The ripping wedgie involves the tearing of the victim's underpants, sometimes ripping off a portion (such as the waistband) of them, or forcibly removing the garment entirely.{{cite book |last=Harper|first=Shaun R.|date=2010|title=College Men and Masculinities Theory, Research, and Implications for Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MlYHxLp1ieEC|publisher=Wiley|page=270|isbn=9780470448427}}
See also
- List of practical joke topics
- Happy corner
- Indian burn
- Wedgies, a 2008 mini series-focused block on Cartoon Network
References
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External links
{{wiktionary|wedgie|atomic wedgie|melvin}}
- {{commonscatinline|Wedgies}}