# If someone is wearing just a towel, do they count as naked? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817 "2013-12-08T13:08:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/21 "2013-12-08T19:58:23Z")
Not naked, but also not clothed. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/22 "2013-12-08T20:19:54Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Not naked. Close, but no cigar! Are you talking [one of these](http://richbui.com/files/2010/03/20100311-Montecristo-No2-Cuban-Cigar-006.jpg), or [one of these](http://richbui.com/files/2010/01/20100122-Bolivar-Royal-Corona-Cuban-cigar-Bui4Ever-005.jpg), or [one of these](http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/0/6/7/5/1/2/webimg/649757714_o.jpg)? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/23 "2013-12-08T20:28:21Z")
No. Naked is _naked_, as in, no clothing at all. If you’re wearing a towel you’re not naked. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/24 "2013-12-08T20:50:02Z")
So… if a one-legged man is wearing nothing but a prosthetic leg (to go with his meat leg, of course) is he naked or not? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/25 "2013-12-08T21:01:39Z")
My car just hit a water buffalo. May I borrow your towel? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/26 "2013-12-08T21:08:42Z")
Depends on the size of the towel. A beach towel? They’re not naked. A hand towel? A dish towel? A paper towel? Naked. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/27 "2013-12-08T22:08:39Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > So… if a one-legged man is wearing nothing but a prosthetic leg (to go with his meat leg, of course) is he naked or not? I’m pretty sure most definitions of naked for men only cover the exposure of the genitals or buttocks. So yea I’d say he is naked. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/28 "2013-12-09T02:05:32Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Only if it’s not so short and not sarong. Offenders will be thrown into the lavalava. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/29 "2013-12-09T02:31:35Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > In real life… yes. > > As far as movies/TV are concerned… no. Pretty much, yeah. But the size of the towel, and how it is worn, does make a difference. I was just watching “The Assassination Bureau, Ltd.” which has a (nice!) scene where Diana Rigg is wearing only a towel. Do I get to say “I’ve seen Diana Rigg naked?” Not hardly. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/30 "2013-12-09T04:10:15Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > If there is anything on your person whatsoever that can be removed, you are not naked. Your head? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/31 "2013-12-09T04:15:44Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Not naked, but also not clothed. This is how I’d describe it. I’d probably tell either a naked person or a towel-wrapped person, “Go put some clothes on!” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/32 "2013-12-09T04:17:27Z")
It depends on the situation. This [woman](http://static3.depositphotos.com/1008008/234/i/950/depositphotos_2341247-Beautiful-young-woman-in-towel.jpg) wearing just a towel is naked. This [woman](http://stockfresh.com/files/p/photomak/m/47/813664_stock-photo-after-shower---woman-in-towel-on-head.jpg) wearing just a towel is not. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/33 "2013-12-09T05:30:58Z")
I run around naked under my clothes all the time. 😉 Wearing a towel that covers the private parts isn’t naked. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/34 "2013-12-09T08:36:16Z")
Is the towel staying on by itself? If so, then not naked. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/35 "2013-12-09T08:48:11Z")
If someone told you that a magazine contained a very attractive naked person of your preferred gender, and you opened up the magazine and there was a very attractive person of your preferred gender wearing a towel, would you feel at all deceived? I think the answer to that question answers the OP. ---
**Author:** ![BrianJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/54ee81/32.png) [@BrianJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrianJ)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/36 "2013-12-09T12:25:00Z")
No, I wouldn’t call a towel naked. The phrase I don’t get is half-naked, when referring to a woman in skimpy clothes. if both the top and bottom private parts are covered there is no ‘half nakedness’ ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/37 "2013-12-09T20:11:30Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > A woman wearing a towel on her head is not naked. So, you are on a business trip and your hot 20 something assistant is with you and your wife drops in on you unexpectedly… and while she is there your assistant comes out of the bathroom with only a towel on her her head. “What… it isn’t like she is naked or anything!” Good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/38 "2013-12-09T20:43:52Z")
When I was a wee lad, it was pretty common for boys to wrap a towel around their waist over a bathing suit after swimming. This was acceptable for walking around a resort town, the boardwalk, etc., and more decent than wearing a dripping bathing suit. Boys had to wrap it at the waist - anything higher was considered girly. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/39 "2013-12-09T21:34:54Z")
> [@BrianJ](#): > > No, I wouldn’t call a towel naked. > > The phrase I don’t get is half-naked, when referring to a woman in skimpy clothes. if both the top and bottom private parts are covered there is no ‘half nakedness’ Ironically, a lot the time when a person is said to be “half naked” they’re actually closer to ninety percent naked. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817/40 "2013-12-09T22:31:27Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > No, “nekkid” is “unclothed and up to no good.” How much good you reckon somebody’s up to running around unclothed with a towel tied around their neck like a cape? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-someone-is-wearing-just-a-towel-do-they-count-as-naked/675817.md?page=3)