# what's a wedgie?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545>\
**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:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/21 "2003-04-10T05:49:13Z")

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I was always under the impression that a melvin was a particulary feminine problem. Was I wrong? What’s the name for a, uh… er… frontal wedgie?

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**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/22 "2003-04-10T05:56:33Z")

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I was always under the impression that a melvin was a particulary feminine problem. Was I wrong? What’s the name for a, uh… er… frontal wedgie?

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**Author:** ![SnugTheJoiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@SnugTheJoiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnugTheJoiner)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/23 "2003-04-10T06:18:27Z")

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I know that this is not PC, but what the hell.

When I was a kid, we did not use the term “wedgie” when yanking a victim’s skivvies up into his natal cleft.

Instead, we would yell, “Chinese raundry!”

Notice the substitution of the “R” sound for the “L” sound. Vitally important if you’re going to do this correctly.

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**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/24 "2003-04-10T12:53:08Z")

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**Very** smart move to ask this question on-line.

I still recall when I (aged 10 or thereabouts) asked a pal that question IRL. Let’s just say he was one for disseminating esoteric knowledge through practical application. Ouch.

The Danish term is (or was, when I was in the age bracket where such knowledge is a critical social skill), an “Olfert”.

(Incidentally, “Olfert Fischer” is the name of the corvette that Her Majesty’s fire-eating Danish Navy has sent to assist in the Iraq land offensive.)

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**Author:** ![greck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ab992/32.png) [@greck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greck)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-wedgie/167545/25 "2003-04-10T14:15:44Z")

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Where I grew up, the male elders called it a “Snuggie”  
I think I like wedgie better as a term

Ever tied the waistband to the shirt collar?

For little kids (nephews under age 7) you can bend the foot back and tuck it under the waistband, that’s pretty funny.

Now, the giving of a wedgie is usually due to the recipient being a crybaby or a wuss, right?

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