# what's a wedgie? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 9, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545 "2003-04-09T14:16:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sappho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sappho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sappho)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/1 "2003-04-09T14:16:06Z")
Very stupid question, I do realise, as by the number of random references to “wedgies” in film/TV shows and such like, it seems clear that everyone but me knows. Can someone enlighten me? Pretty please? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/2 "2003-04-09T14:19:47Z")
It’s when someone reaches into your pants, grabs the waistband of your skitters, and gives a hearty yank. Alternately, it’s a kind of shoe with a ramp-like sole, as opposed to a separate heel section. ---
**Author:** ![Margo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Margo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Margo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/3 "2003-04-09T14:20:20Z")
[http://deadlink.com/](http://deadlink.com/) Hope that helps… It is when your pants or underpants crawl into your buttcrack… Margo [link censored per request of poster who created link in the first place. Now I’ve seen it all:D -Czarcasm] ---
**Author:** ![Margo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Margo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Margo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/4 "2003-04-09T14:22:03Z")
OMG, they are going to have to remove that, should have surfed it a little more…its naughty…sorry! Margo ---
**Author:** ![Sappho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sappho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sappho)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/5 "2003-04-09T14:26:07Z")
Ahhhh. _sound of things falling into place_ Is it an American expression? Because I don’t think I’ve ever heard it used in Britain - just American films/shows. ---
**Author:** ![Sappho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sappho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sappho)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/6 "2003-04-09T14:27:24Z")
It’s also very funny, Margo… ---
**Author:** ![Margo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Margo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Margo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/7 "2003-04-09T14:46:01Z")
Sappho, Who would have thought that [ratemywedgie.com](http://ratemywedgie.com) would be an adult site? Honestly…am I the first person on this board to hit notify moderator for their own post? :smack: Margo ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/8 "2003-04-09T14:54:22Z")
nope, I’ve done it, too (notified mods about my own posts…cos I thought they’d be in the wrong section, or because people didn’t see the funny side of things and were a bit upset). ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/9 "2003-04-09T15:51:27Z")
Thanks **Margo**. I’ll have to spen a great deal of time at that site later when my wife is away for the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/10 "2003-04-09T17:16:32Z")
From _Seinfeld_: “Why do they call it a wedgie?” “Because the underwear is pulled up from the back until… it wedges in.” “They also have an Atomic Wedgie. Now the goal there is to actually get the waistband on top of the head. It’s very rare.” “Boys are sick.” “What do girls do?” “We just tease someone until they develop an eating disorder.” I’ve learned so much about America from that show. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/11 "2003-04-09T18:42:54Z")
A couple of points… Wedgies are _usually_ performed from the rear. Secondly, when I was growing up (70’s), the term we used was “gonch-pull”. Maybe gonch is just a Canadian term? Wedgie didn’t come along until later. Finally, along the lines of the “atomic wedgie”, the worst one I ever saw was a wedgie werein the unfortunate recipient was left hanging from a coat hook in the boys changing room. ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/12 "2003-04-09T19:45:53Z")
Don’t forget the dreaded _rear admiral_! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/13 "2003-04-09T20:50:18Z")
wait a minute…people actually hang people by their underwear in a changeing room? It’s actually _happened_?!?! Boys **are** weird! ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/14 "2003-04-09T21:45:05Z")
OK, how many synonyms can we come up with? It was a “murf” where I grew up (Central Coast, CA). ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/15 "2003-04-09T22:21:48Z")
What is a wedgie? Well, you see, when a man and his underpants love each other very much… ---
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/16 "2003-04-09T22:28:32Z")
It was always “wedgie” where I grew up. My Minnesota cousins, however, called them “weedgies” (rhymes with Fiji). ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/17 "2003-04-09T22:28:59Z")
We called it a “grundy” (grundie?) Northwest Illinois - 60’s, 70’s ---
**Author:** ![Margo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Margo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Margo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/18 "2003-04-09T22:48:17Z")
I forgot about “grundy”, we used that and “melvin” too, this was in Idaho in the 1970’s…of course we were also made to say “roony” for butt… Margo ---
**Author:** ![djxiii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6f9a4e/32.png) [@djxiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djxiii)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/19 "2003-04-09T23:13:18Z")
“They Melvined me.” Death, apologetic comment to God. - Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey Probably my favorite line in the movie followed closely by the way Death says “You have sunk my battleship” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/20 "2003-04-10T00:06:51Z")
“Wedgie” is current in Australia. I only remember it from about the mid-90s though. Prior to that I wasn’t aware of any term for that particular aahh… phenomenon. “Grundies” is simply a slang term for underpants here. The pants themselves, not any strange activity associated with them. That word has been around for decades, but is probably not used much now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545.md?page=2)