Girdle String --> G-string?

[Sam Clements]

I'm only surprised it took this long for this to be the main theory.

Sam Clements

----- Original Message -----
From: "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 17:50
Subject: Girdle String --> G-string?


>        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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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