# When you think of a thong you think of...? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 16, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073 "2019-05-16T18:21:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [May 16, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/1 "2019-05-16T18:21:35Z")
Inspired by [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=875518) thread. How did we get two different wearable items with the same name? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/2 "2019-05-16T18:42:27Z")
I didn’t vote. “Buttcheeks” wasn’t included. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/3 "2019-05-16T18:43:32Z")
Really, I can’t recall not knowing out of context. But I went ahead and chose “flip flops” since that was the first thing I knew “thongs” to be. The underwear was called a “G-string”. (And then later I learned it was also called a thong"). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/4 "2019-05-16T18:46:07Z")
Thomthing you thing with a lithp. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/5 "2019-05-16T18:46:10Z")
Neither. I think of a narrow strip of leather (or other material strong enough to act as a narrow strip of leather). You know, a thong. The wearables are named after what they are held on with. In the case of the footgear, what they used to be held on with. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/6 "2019-05-16T18:46:12Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Really, I can’t recall not knowing out of context. But I went ahead and chose “flip flops” since that was the first thing I knew “thongs” to be. > > The underwear was called a “G-string”. (And then later I learned it was also called a thong"). Ditto. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2019, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/7 "2019-05-16T18:47:01Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Inspired by [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=875518) thread. > > How did we get two different wearable items with the same name? Rubbers too. When my stepdad asks my mom where his rubbers are, I about choke. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/8 "2019-05-16T18:49:45Z")
Maybe it’s regional but I never heard flip-flops referred to as thongs until very recently and not in real life. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/9 "2019-05-16T18:52:08Z")
Before say 1976 or so I would have said flip=flops. But since then I have heard it, and basically used it, in relation to underwear and swimsuits. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/10 "2019-05-16T19:14:47Z")
Neither. I think of leathercrafting. The underwear’s a g-string, the sandals are flip-flops. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/11 "2019-05-16T19:30:38Z")
Butt floss. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/12 "2019-05-16T20:01:56Z")
It would depend on the context; the word can mean either. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/13 "2019-05-16T20:04:40Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It would depend on the context; the word can mean either. True, but I think about women’s underwear more than I think about flip flops. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/14 "2019-05-16T20:11:59Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > When my stepdad asks my mom where his rubbers are, I about choke. Phrasing! ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/15 "2019-05-16T20:13:10Z")
FWIW, the word thong meant shoes when I was growing up in the 80s. Then came that glorious renaissance of female underwear. And its sad consequence, the whale-tail. Now, I think of the undies. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/16 "2019-05-16T20:22:11Z")
For some reason I thought of swimwear rather than underwear. But definitely not flipflops. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/17 "2019-05-16T20:25:04Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Rubbers too. When my stepdad asks my mom where his rubbers are, I about choke. [From Dames at Sea](https://www.smule.com/recording/bernadette-peters-raining-in-my-heart-from-dames-at-sea-wise-haimson-mi/968890181_2055294682) > [@](#): > > Where are my rubbers to ford the storm? > What good are rubbers? Outside it’s warm! > But ever since heaven fell apart, > It’s been raining, > Raining in my heart. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/18 "2019-05-16T20:53:35Z")
Note that a thong and a G-string are not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/19 "2019-05-16T21:28:56Z")
You really should have made a third option available. When I think of a thong, I think about whether it would be eathy to thing. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073/20 "2019-05-16T22:06:50Z")
We grew up calling flip-flops thongs. I learned about g-strings in the early 80’s and their alternate name a few years later. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-a-thong-you-think-of/834073.md?page=2)