Wedgie

Somebody getting a wedgie

A wedgie is when a person's underwear is forcibly pulled up their buttocks. A wedgie can be given by bullies to humiliate their target, or as a prank between friends. Wedgies can be given from the front ("melvins") and in many other ways. They can cause the underwear to rip. They are uncomfortable and sometimes painful and are used in many situations. They are also very commonly shown in Low Comedy.

There are many forms of wedgies. Wedgies can be given along with a spanking. A hanging wedgie is when the underwear is hung on a hook. A bra connection wedgie is when a girl's underpants are hooked in her bra. "Atomic wedgies" are when the underwear is pulled over the victim's head. A "messy wedgie" is when food or other substances are put down the pants of the victim while wedgied. A "squeaky clean wedgie" is when the victim's underwear is pulled up at the front then the back creating friction. In a "bouncing wedgie", the person is bounced while in the wedgie.

History of Wedgies

No one knows for sure when wedgies started but according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word wedgie started being used, for the underwear prank in the 1970s.

In 1975, when James Comey was fourteen and started High School, he was given a lot of wedgies by people who were trying to rip his “underwear out of his pants”.

Wedgies were also very often used at the time to the point that were a lot of different slang words for them. According to a study by the University of Indiana, they were sometimes known as wedgies, sometimes as Melvins, sometimes as snuggies, and sometimes as Creepers. (The study was published in 1980 but was talking about slang that kids were using in 1975, 1976, and 1977.)

Wedgies were also shown in movies. For example, in the 1985 movie, Just One of the Guys, a bully gave a freshman a wedgie. The movie Weird Science also had the character Chet give his brother a wedgie.

Wedgies were also used for hazing. In 1989, Michael Moffat wrote a book which talked about how often wedgies were used for hazing when he was in college. A lot of movies, in the 1990s, had wedgies in them. Revenge of the Nerds 3 had a scene where some characters pulled one of the “nerd”s underpants all the way over his head (which is called an “atomic wedgie”). Because of this, the Revenge of the Nerds DVDs were called the “atomic wedgie collection”.

Reactions to Wedgies

The book Coming of Age in New Jersey by Michael Moffat said that when he was in college (in 1984) a lot of students gave unpopular kids and freshmen wedgies and that a lot of them later ended up giving wedgies to others when they were older. [1]

In 2002, a man named Daniel Strouss shot someone named Eric Kassoway for having given him a wedgie. , . Strouss was put in jail for attempted murder since the court said he was mentally ill but not legally insane.

In 2005, a teacher named Mark Holley was arrested for giving a ten year old student a wedgie.

In 2006, a High School Principal named Eric Messerli was suspended for six days for giving a student a wedgie. Archived 2022-06-25 at the Wayback Machine

In 2007, an eight year old boy named Justin Serovich and his twin brother Jared Serovich gave each other wedgies so they decided to invent wedgie-proof underwear.,

Dangers

In 2004, a 10 year old boy in England was given a wedgie by his friends after they had watched The Simpsons and ended up needing surgery at a hospital.

In 2015, a man accidentally killed his stepfather by giving him an “Atomic Wedgie”.

Other websites

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Wedgie
The Simple English Wiktionary has a definition for: wedgie.
  1. ↑ Moffatt, Michael (1989). Coming of age in New Jersey : college and American culture. Internet Archive. New Brunswick : Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-1359-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
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