Girdle String --> G-string?

[Wilson Gray]

I, on the other hand, am astounded to discover that there is or was
any connection between the term "G-string," however spelled, and
non-Western or other indigenous peoples of whatever origin. However I
have noticed its rising from the dead with a meaning somewhat
different from the meaning that it had till the necessity of its use
was rendered obsolete by the legality of totally-nude display by women
as a form of public entertainment.

-Wilson


On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 6:08 PM, Sam Clements <SClements at neo.rr.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Sam Clements <SClements at NEO.RR.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Girdle String --> G-string?
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>
> 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
>>
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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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