# Twerking? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 1, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739 "2013-09-01T17:24:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/1 "2013-09-01T17:24:56Z")
OK, what is it? I just ran across this term in this morning’s paper in a column about youth culture. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/2 "2013-09-01T17:29:59Z")
Stripper dance. ETA: AKA booty-popping. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/3 "2013-09-01T17:42:21Z")
It’s an obscene dance move that involves shaking your butt sigh society is really going to hell in a handbasket back in my day dancing was a wholesome activity ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/4 "2013-09-01T17:51:33Z")
What they said. Do a google search for twerking videos and you can see hundreds of examples. It’s not that obscene if done with clothes on, it’s the frequent absence of clothing that makes it NSFW. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/5 "2013-09-01T17:53:08Z")
From what I gather from various online sources, it is a dance where the girl bends over, presenting her buttocks, either to a male partner or thin air, and then performs pelvic thrusts miming doggie-style sex. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/6 "2013-09-01T19:08:13Z")
OMG, I didn’t know what it meant until yesterday either. My wife mentioned it was added to some dictionary and I was like, “What the hell does it mean?”, and she walked away shaking her head and laughing. Then I asked my 14 year old son. He wouldn’t explain it to me either and so he and my wife had a good laugh about it at my expense again. So I got pissed and looked it up. My life isn’t better for knowing there’s an official term for that. But I enjoyed the research. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/7 "2013-09-01T20:48:34Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > back in my day dancing was a wholesome activity Did you dance to that famous Rolling Stones song, “Hey, hey, you, you, get off of my lawn”? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/8 "2013-09-01T21:25:02Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > back in my day dancing was a wholesome activity Square dancing? Scandalous! ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/9 "2013-09-01T21:55:06Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > back in my day Yesterday? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/10 "2013-09-01T21:56:28Z")
So where was this term before Miley Virus showed the world she possessed a vagina? And how is it different from Elvis’s hip-work? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/11 "2013-09-01T22:30:26Z")
For the OP, the [Urban Dictionary](http://www.urbandictionary.com/) online has most answers for current terms. ---
**Author:** ![Girlundone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Girlundone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girlundone)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/12 "2013-09-01T22:31:33Z")
[QUOTE=Amateur Barbarian] So where was this term before Miley Virus showed the world she possessed a vagina? [/QUOTE] [A Brief History of Twerking.](http://www.fuse.tv/2013/08/brief-history-of-twerking) ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/13 "2013-09-01T22:32:18Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Did you dance to that famous Rolling Stones song, “Hey, hey, you, you, get off of my lawn”? 😛 You should take every post that PSXer makes with an incredibly huge grain of salt. (Like the size of a large boulder.) ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/14 "2013-09-01T22:43:52Z")
Twerking is the most accurate method to tell whether you are old or not. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/15 "2013-09-01T22:53:28Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > It’s an obscene dance move that involves shaking your butt > > sigh society is really going to hell in a handbasket > > back in my day dancing was a wholesome activity Go back in the house, and watch Matlock, Gramps. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/16 "2013-09-01T23:05:18Z")
[http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d0e\_1377639302](http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d0e_1377639302) Make up your own mind. ---
**Author:** ![Girlundone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Girlundone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girlundone)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/17 "2013-09-01T23:37:45Z")
> [@](#): > > [ItemFix - Social Video Factory](http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d0e_1377639302) > > Make up your own mind. I wouldn’t necessarily call that an example of twerking or booty popping done well. That’s just a bunch of people at a festival grinding on each other. You don’t have to be young to know what twerking is or even be able to do it. Madonna is 55. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/18 "2013-09-01T23:40:14Z")
> [@Girlundone](#): > > [A Brief History of Twerking.](http://www.fuse.tv/2013/08/brief-history-of-twerking) Some of that page appears to be in English. ---
**Author:** ![Girlundone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Girlundone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girlundone)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/19 "2013-09-01T23:57:40Z")
[QUOTE=Amateur Barbarian] Some of that page appears to be in English. [/QUOTE] I’m guessing you don’t frequently drop it like it’s hot, do you? ---
**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:** [September 2, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739/20 "2013-09-02T01:06:33Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > From what I gather from various online sources, it is a dance where the girl bends over, presenting her buttocks, either to a male partner or thin air, and then performs pelvic thrusts miming doggie-style sex. Not always. There’s also “wall twerking”. In this dance, the girl will do a handstand while facing the wall and leans against the wall with her feet. In this upside down position she will then shake her butt up and down. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvwuS9ClRFc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvwuS9ClRFc) (SFW but it does obviously have some girls shaking their butts) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twerking/667739.md?page=2)