# Urinal q: I'm a guy, and I don't even know why guys do this. TMI? Can't say. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133 "2004-08-23T20:16:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/1 "2004-08-23T20:16:39Z")
If I ever wore shorts, apart from in the gym, I’d probably know this. As it is I’m mystified: I’ve noticed whenever I go into any public restroom where there are urinals, if I happen to see someone using one of the urinals, and he happens to be wearing shorts, he uses his free hand to gather up one of the legs. What’s the reason for it? Fellow fellows, help a fellow out, will you? ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/2 "2004-08-23T20:49:52Z")
I’m not sure I follow. You mean the guy pulls his shorts-leg up, like he’s trying to keep it out of the water or something? Personally, I use my free hand to keep the fly spread open. Those zipper teeth can be cold, and, well, _teethy_. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/3 "2004-08-23T20:51:46Z")
Waistband has a drawstring which has gotten knotted in the snug position. Can’t “go over the top” so you use the most expedient exit available. Some of us just prever to do it that way regardless of the condition of the drawstring because going over the top can put pressure on the urethra resulting in incomplete evacuation of the bladder, which will complete evacuation once Mr. Happy is back in the shorts resulting in soiled garments (pecker tracks). ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/4 "2004-08-23T20:53:50Z")
Oh good. I can add ‘pecker tracks’ to my mental vocabulary just after ‘skid marks’. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/5 "2004-08-23T21:06:08Z")
I’ll agree with Mr. Montoya there. Once you have that drawstring tied it’s a pain to have to retie it. Lifting the shorts leg and taking the “under” route is convenient. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/6 "2004-08-23T21:17:41Z")
I think I understand what you’re asking, and I’m also guilty of it. My reasoning will follow. Wearing shorts, zipped and belted or tied, everything hangs properly (I’m talking about the shorts) and is “balanced” lets say. When you unzip, or untie and go “over the top”, you throw off this balance, and leave fabric from one of the legs vulnerable to splashback or worse. By bunching up (I push back more often than bunching up) I keep the shorts out of the urinal and out of harms way. I do the same thing with baggy buttondowns, to keep the shirttail out of the stream. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/7 "2004-08-23T22:16:42Z")
If the shorts don’t have a zipper fly, and especially if they are the drawstring type, ‘out the leg’ is the only practical alternative to dropping them entirely in a cubicle and doing it sitting down - if you undo the drawstring and pull the front of the shorts down to go over the top, the whole apparatus loosens and you end up pulling the shorts down all around, exposing (at best) the back of your boxers/underpants and (at worst) your naked butt cheeks. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/8 "2004-08-24T04:50:02Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Waistband has a drawstring which has gotten knotted in the snug position. Can’t “go over the top” so you use the most expedient exit available. Some of us just \*\*prever \*\*… Tell me that was a Freudian slip for “some of us perverts.” ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/9 "2004-08-24T12:14:26Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > Tell me that was a Freudian slip for “some of us perverts.” Heh, just a typo. Man, I can’t buy a break! ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/10 "2004-08-25T08:18:13Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > If I ever wore shorts, apart from in the gym, I’d probably know this. As it is I’m mystified: I’ve noticed whenever I go into any public restroom where there are urinals, if I happen to see someone using one of the urinals, and he happens to be wearing shorts, he uses his free hand to gather up one of the legs. > > What’s the reason for it? Fellow fellows, help a fellow out, will you? I’ve never done this, nor seen it. Then again, the first assertion doesn’t carry as much weight since I haven’t worn short pants since I was “in short pants”. ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/11 "2004-08-25T13:35:58Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > If I ever wore shorts, apart from in the gym, I’d probably know this. As it is I’m mystified: I’ve noticed whenever I go into any public restroom where there are urinals, if I happen to see someone using one of the urinals, and he happens to be wearing shorts, he uses his free hand to gather up one of the legs. > > What’s the reason for it? Fellow fellows, help a fellow out, will you? If I understand your question (perhaps unlikely, since my understanding seems to be different than every other poster in this thread), the answer is simple. Short pants tend to be baggy and, though short, are long enough to potentially get wet by either dipping into the urinal itself, or flopping around sufficiently to get in the flow path. I always do this when wearing shorts. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/12 "2004-08-25T13:49:48Z")
> [@flex727](#): > > Short pants tend to be baggy and, though short, are long enough to potentially get wet by either dipping into the urinal itself, or flopping around sufficiently to get in the flow path. I always do this when wearing shorts. I can’t imagine how anyone would manage to dip their shorts in a urinal. Provided your shorts are loose/stretchy/short enough, it’s just a lot easier to exit through the leg hole than over top. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/13 "2004-08-25T14:23:33Z")
Since I fully anticipate this thread being moved, I’d just like to say that I go over the top every time, baby…_everytime._ 😛 ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/14 "2004-08-25T17:25:00Z")
First rule of The Men’s Room: No peeking. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/15 "2004-08-25T18:47:33Z")
Ah yes, the sideleg pee. A wonderful way to avoid the drawstring issues and to quickly take care of business. I’ve used it most when I’ve been wearing athletic shorts and I’ve been drinking at a bar after a practice or game. Much simpler than all that annoying untying… hijack/ Hey **Mathochist** I keep meaning to ask you, from a post you made a while back - are you from Columbia, MD? I seem to remember something you said about Wilde Lake HS. I’m an Oakland Mills grad myself - '89. /hijack ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urinal-q-im-a-guy-and-i-dont-even-know-why-guys-do-this-tmi-cant-say/261133/16 "2004-08-25T21:24:19Z")
> [@awldune](#): > > I can’t imagine how anyone would manage to dip their shorts in a urinal. Okay, I said that wrong. Not dipping in the water, but dragging on the front lip/edge of the urinal - equally as gross.