G-string Information & G-string Links at HealthHaven.com

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

Woman wearing a G-string

A G-string (alternatively gee-string or gee string) is a type of underwear, 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. It is also a style of thong swimsuit whose rear area can become so narrow that it would disappear between the wearer's buttocks. The two terms G-string and thong are often used interchangeably; however, they can refer to distinct pieces of clothing. A G-string is one variety of thong. See the design and variety of thongs for details.

[edit] 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 these times.^[2]

Edgar Rice Burroughs dressed his created novel-character, Tarzan, in a G-string for 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]

[edit] Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Thong

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: G-string

^ John Hanson Beadle (1877) "Western Wilds, and the Men who Redeem Them: An Authentic Narrative" p. 249, digitized text at Google Books
^ "On Language; Ode on a G-String", by William Safire, The New York Times, August 4, 1991
^ The Son of Tarzan, chapter 26: "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."
^ The Son of Tarzan, chapter 20: "Korak, The Killer, fondled his heavy spear. He played with the grass rope dangling from his G-string."

[0] John Hanson Beadle (1877) "Western Wilds, and the Men who Redeem Them: An Authentic Narrative" p. 249, digitized text at Google Books

[1] "On Language; Ode on a G-String", by William Safire, The New York Times, August 4, 1991

[2] The Son of Tarzan, chapter 26: "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."

[3] The Son of Tarzan, chapter 20: "Korak, The Killer, fondled his heavy spear. He played with the grass rope dangling from his G-string."

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]