G-string

G String

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G-string

A G-string (alternatively gee-string or gee string) is a type of underwear, a narrow piece of cloth, leather

Leather

Leather is a material created through the tanning of rawhides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. The tanning process converts the putrescible skin into a durable, long-lasting and versatile natural material for various uses....
, or plastic

Plastic

Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic chemistry solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products....
that covers or holds the genitals, passes between the buttocks

Buttocks

The buttocks are rounded portions of the anatomy located on the posterior of the pelvic region of the apes, including humans and many other bipeds or quadrupeds....
, and is attached to a band around the hips

Hip (anatomy)

In anatomy, the hip or coxa in medical termonology is the bone projection of the femur which is known as the greater trochanter, and the overlying muscle and fat....
, worn as swimwear

Swimsuit

A swimsuit, bathing suit or swimming costume is an item of clothing designed to be worn while participating in List of water sports and activities such as swimming, water polo, diving, surfing, water skiing....
or underwear by both men and women.

The two terms G-string and thong
Thong (clothing)

The thong is an undergarment and swimwear, worn by both sexes but more commonly women, in a style characterized by a thin strip of material along the center of the garment?s back designed to sit between the wearer?s buttocks, connected directly to the bottom front of the garment and to both sides of the front at the top via a waistband....
are often used interchangeably; however, they can refer to distinct pieces of clothing, see the design and variety of thongs

Thong (clothing)

The thong is an undergarment and swimwear, worn by both sexes but more commonly women, in a style characterized by a thin strip of material along the center of the garment?s back designed to sit between the wearer?s buttocks, connected directly to the bottom front of the garment and to both sides of the front at the top via a waistband....
for details.

he modern Western world G-strings are more often worn by females.

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Encyclopedia

A G-string (alternatively gee-string or gee string) is a type of underwear, a narrow piece of cloth, leather

Leather

Plastic

Buttocks

Hip (anatomy)

In anatomy, the hip or coxa in medical termonology is the bone projection of the femur which is known as the greater trochanter, and the overlying muscle and fat....
, worn as swimwear

Swimsuit

Thong (clothing)

Origin

In the modern Western world G-strings are more often worn by females. The modern thong

Thong (clothing)

The thong is an undergarment and swimwear, worn by both sexes but more commonly women, in a style characterized by a thin strip of material along the center of the garment?s back designed to sit between the wearer?s buttocks, connected directly to the bottom front of the garment and to both sides of the front at the top via a waistband....
first gained mainstream popularity as swimwear in South America

South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, particularly in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
in the 1970s. A style of thong

Thong (clothing)

The thong is an undergarment and swimwear, worn by both sexes but more commonly women, in a style characterized by a thin strip of material along the center of the garment?s back designed to sit between the wearer?s buttocks, connected directly to the bottom front of the garment and to both sides of the front at the top via a waistband....
swimsuit whose rear area became so narrow that it would disappear between the wearer's buttocks

Buttocks

The buttocks are rounded portions of the anatomy located on the posterior of the pelvic region of the apes, including humans and many other bipeds or quadrupeds....
.

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

Loincloth

A loincloth is a one-piece male garment, sometimes kept in place by a Belt , which covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks....
of American Indians

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
and later referred to the narrow loincloth itself. William Safire

William Safire

William L. Safire is an United States author, semi-retired columnist, and former journalist and President of the United States speechwriter.He is perhaps best known as a long-time print syndication political columnist for The New York Times and a regular contributor to "On Language" in the New York Times Magazine, a column on popul...
in his Ode on a G-String quoted the usage of the word "G-string" for loincloth by Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine

Harper's Magazine is a monthly, general-interest magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. It is the second-oldest, continuously-published monthly magazine in the U.S.; current circulation is more than 220,000 issues....
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

Note

In music, the term note has two primary meanings: 1) a sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound; and 2) a pitched sound itself....
). Safire also mentions the opinion of linguist Robert Hendrickson

Robert Hendrickson

Robert Hendrickson may refer to:*Robert Hendrickson , film director*Robert C. Hendrickson, U.S. Senator from New Jersey...
that G (or gee) stands for groin

Groin

In human anatomy, the groin areas are the two wikt:crease at the junction of the torso with the legs, on either side of the pubic area. A pulled groin muscle usually refers to a pulled Adductor muscles of the hip....
, which was a taboo word at these times.

Bettie Page

Bettie Page

Bettie Page was an United States model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up girl photos. Her look, including her jet black hair and trademark Fringe , has influenced many artists....
, who became known as a "Pin Up Queen" because of her modeling work in the late 1940s and early 1950s, made her own G-strings and other undergarments because such items were difficult to obtain commercially.

G-string

Origin

Etymology

See also