Girdle String --> G-string?

[Baker, John]

        On the Straight Dope Message Board,
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=557325, someone who
goes by Exapno Mapcase has posted an argument that "G-string" derives
from the 19th century term "girdle string."  "G-string," of course, is
known from 1877 with the spelling "geestring" and from 1882 with the
spellings "G-string" and "'G' string."  "Girdle string," which dates
from 1846 in Google Books, has the same meaning as "G-string"
(essentially, a string around the waist, and a cloth or tassel suspended
therefrom, worn by some non-Western peoples).

        Would this kind of abbreviation have been common in the 19th
century?  This explanation does seem more plausible than any of the
competing theories.  On the other hand, I'm a little taken aback by the
consideration that "G-string" seems to apply primarily to American
Indians, while the few examples of "girdle string" seem to refer to
other indigenous peoples.


John Baker

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