Talk:List of school pranks/Archive 1

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Archive This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Right, this is probably more suited for the wiktionary. Even a detailed documentation of occurrences of wedgies in The Simpsons wouldn't change that, right? --JPMH 01:35, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Agreed. I thought about putting it for Speedy Deletion myself, but being a newbie, I decided to just wait and see what happened instead.*Kat* 08:05, Dec 10, 2004 (UTC)

  • Speedy wouldn't be right in my opinion, except there's already a wikitonary article.

There was already an article [1] about this which got moved to wiktionary after going through Voters for Deletion [2].... if there's no page here people will continue to fill this "glaring gap" in wikipedia's knowledge Kappa 15:19, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)

  • Okay, now a combination of other school pranks. Hey, what other 'pedia tells you how to best harrass your co-pupils? :) By the way maybe one of the more artistically inclinded 'pedians could draw a schematic picture of some of them? Radiant_* 22:18, Mar 26, 2005 (UTC)

I notice that someone confidently asserts that an atomic wedgie (here defined as "waistband above head") is "impossible". I assert that with relatively loose boxer-shorts of sufficiently stretchy material it is entirely possible. I have photos (of a friend) to prove it. --Pete

I agree; a "hanging wedgie" (where you pull hard enough to lift the wedgee off the ground) can easily turn into an "atomic wedgie" if the underwear is loose enough, or weak enough that the waistband tears off the fabric and can thus stretch to its elastic limit (which is enough to go over the head). Granted it does take effort to do this; you've got to both hands on the underwear (an underhanded grip works best) and be able to curl enough weight to lift the wedgee off the ground.

Contents

another prank

what about that prank where you stand behind your victim, moving your knees into your victim's knee knuckles, which causes your victim to loose balance and fall to the ground? Don't know how it is called, but i enjoyed doing that in school to all those nerds walkin' around, just after they already received a nice swirly. --Abdull 14:06, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

If you don't like nerds, Abdull, I'm not sure Wikipedia is a great place to hang around RMoloney 15:48, 9 September 2005 (UTC)
Gosh, nerdism is not something one should associate with openly. --Abdull 11:06, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
Nerds Unite! What's wrong with being a nerd? Half my friends are nerds (though I don't tend to say that to their faces). Heck, I must be nerd, otherwise what am I doing on this dorky website... RobbieG 15:37, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
It is called dead legging

Everybody tries to get pages deleted and merged with this one

But I see in the history, at least two entries in here get DELTED FOREVER each day! And this talk page says this site may be deleted soon, too. So just merging stuff in here may be bad. Thodin 03:01, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Pictures

How about some pictures of types of pranks. I have a good picture of a pantsing and wedgie pictures are not hard to find. This would give a better idea of what the prank is like rather than merely describing it.

Reginald

While these pictures may be easy to find, they:
  1. Have to be decent, and not an invasion of the privacy of anyone involved in the photo.
  2. Available under a "free" license. -- user:zanimum

Not sure the name of this one

The prank where you get a friend to bend down behind the victim, and then push him over is a classic.

That's a table, it's already here. PS sign your comments. Twipie 05:29, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

Moved from Talk:Titty Twister

This really isn't a topic that should be included in an encyclopedia. Especially one that is attempting to gain academic credibility. There is certainly no proof to establish that a "titty twister" is reserved for high school and fraternity functions. I suppose that if there was historical information associated with this act (such as the origin of the custom) there may be some room for an entry, but right now, I'm not seeing it. It certainly needs restructuring at best. --Jfulkerson 02:28, 19 September 2005 (UTC)Jfulkerson

Nipple Cripple rebuttal

The 'Nipple Cripple' is a common prank amoungst high school students and young adults. My own experience is however limited to Australians in general and Sydney-siders specifically but I am fairly confident that it is also well known in other parts of the world.

It seems rather illogical to contend that it should be deleted from the list of school pranks merely because it is not exclusively a school prank. That it is a school prank (and a common one at that) should be sufficient for it's inclusion in this list.

If it makes you feel any better it is against convention to do a nipple cripple on a girl, even if she initiates a war (alternative methods of revenge must be found). It's basically a guy thing, guys occasionally use it as an alternative form of greeting (uni age), although only with good friends (this usually provokes a war which at some point is usually ended with a 'truce' - which may or may not be broken), in school it's more of a prank.

The nipple cripple is a bit risque (it involves a rather strong violation of personal space for one) but it is not particularly 'dirty' or sexual, so remains in the realm of school prankery. I am aware that nipple twisting does occur in other contexts but all that has been written here on the matter is entirely relevant to school pranks and bears no reference to related activities that may not be school prank related.

All this is not to say that I am for nipple cripples, I cannot recall having ever performed one myself and always avoid recieving them as much as possible. I prefer to stick to other pranks such as ice cubes down the back, noogies, 'stacks on' and wedgies.


---YES!!! Stacks on!!! was this only a Sydney thing? My school (admittedly a nerdy one) would have frequent outbreaks of stacks on - great fun. Trialex 01:45, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

I have experienced nipple cripples in two schools in Western Australia, so they are not only a Sydney practice. IanBailey (talk) 02:10, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

I have also experienced 'stacks on' and 'nipple cripples' at a highschool on the North Shore, Syd. Synaptic_DX 02:10, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

What abot the prank where you step on someones heels, giving them a "flat tire" ~~

It is in there, look closer. Howabout1 Talk to me! 01:07, 14 November 2005 (UTC)


--I 03:23, 21 September 2005 (UTC)

What abot the prank where you step on someones heels, giving them a "flat tire" ~~

It is in there, look closer. Howabout1 Talk to me! 01:07, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

Happy Corner

We experienced this one in a mixed-gender school, although as far as I'm aware it was only done to the boys (mostly by the older years) and was known as 'tree treatment'. As you may guess, it was a fairly thin tree that was used as opposed to a pole or such.

Do you think the "Bangkok" should be included?

I once saw it in American Pie 2 or 3. The victim is asked "Which is the capital of Thailand?" or "Where are the best hoes in the world?". If they don't know, the attacker screams "BANGKOK!!!" while kicking the victim's balls, that's because "Bangkok" rhymes with "bang-cock". Da nuke 07:06, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

I don't think that is really a school prank. Howabout1 23:43, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

That's not a rhyme either. It's a homonym. Bitbut 01:12, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

From the outside

Is it encyclopedic to see how stupid -even american- kids are? If encyclopedic and entertaining are NOT mutually exclusive (because it`s not the same but related), one may skip the whole article. (from outter US-space) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.136.192.152 (talk • contribs)


Not Encyclopaedic

Bunch of ponces saying we should delete this page hey everything is encyclopaedic if it contains a bit of information about the world i say who agrees. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.93.21.102 (talk • contribs)

I'd say that the balance of opinion is precisely the opposite, which is why we have policies like WP:V, WP:NOR, WP:NOT and the like. And why we have the pertinent non-guideline WP:NFT. Just zis Guy you know? 20:57, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

About Indian Burn

I thought it was called "Indian Burn" because of the attack's similarity to using friction to start a fire?

--63.106.93.177 23:53, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Proposed move

List of school pranks to school prank. If this article survives the afd, it should be moved to school prank because that title less encourages the stupid pranks than the current title, is more appropriate for an encyclopedia as no article should start with "list of", and the article discusses the concept of a school prank as well as listing some, so it should be at that title. Fomz 20:57, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

Add *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one sentence explanation and sign your vote with ~~~~
  • Support although only for the last reason given (it discusses the overall concept as well). I do not believe that that would help avoid encouragement nor that it is inappropriate for Wikipedia to contains "lists of". TheGrappler 00:15, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
Moved, and I agree with TheGrappler. —Nightstallion (?) Seen this already? 09:22, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

There were alot of really good pranks here.

Now the list is cut in half. :(

Made-up jokes?

First of all, I don't object to the existence of this page. However, it seems to me to have many suspect (i.e. quite possibly fictional) pranks. That Bangkok thing, for example, was once quite common at my school, especially in younger years, but I've never heard of it performed on girls. No, forget that, it quite clearly ISN'T performed on girls. There are four fairly obvious reasons for this:

1. Hitting a girl is seldom seen as funny. There are 'pain' pranks that are played on girls, but they very seldom involve direct assault. I've never seen a girl get 'tango'd' either. This may be because of some sort of male honour code, or perhaps boys are too terrified of girls to attack them, but whatever the case, that wouldn't happen at my school. Then again, maybe I'm living a pretty sheltered life.

2. The joke doesn't make sense when used against a girl. 'Bankok' is a pun. You can't 'bang' a nonexistant part of the female anatomy. Sorry to sound so crude, but it's true (actually, that in itself probably isn't sufficient - there are still plenty of girls who put their hands over their groins in a tennis game if anyone says 'Hold all balls').

3. At least at my school, this joke is favoured by boys. Girls aren't generally (and I am making a fairly big generalisation here) as crude as boys. That still makes it feasible that a boy might perform it on a girl, but then it would be viewed as indecent assault. The said boy would be shunned by his peers as a consequence.

4. Finally, the whole point of this joke is that if a boy is kicked in the groin it is very painful (hilarious, huh? School kids are soo witty. Ahem). There is no part of the female body that hurts as much when kicked, so I can't imagine kids being amused in the same way.

Sorry about that. Re-reading my argument, it is very crude, but so's schoolboy humour. Anyway, what about that 'dot on the forehead' thing? That really does sound made up to me. It's like a live version of the shock thing on the computer pranks article. Also, pile ons and nipple twisters aren't really jokes - the former is a dangerous kids game and the latter a random act of violence.

There are two reasons why I don't think this sort of thing belongs here. Firstly because it's unencyclopaedic, and it just reeks of original research, which goes against Wikipedia policy, but also secondly because it's irresponsible. If you go about inventing pain-inducing or embarrassment causing tricks and then proceed to publicise them on a site like this, there are some kids who are bound to try them out at school and use them to bully the other kids. Some of the pranks are actually written in first person, for crying out loud! It really has no place here.

Whew... that's the longest, most bad-tempered sounding rant I've posted. Sorry about that, but I do feel quite strongly about this. It isn't what Wikipedia is about, and anyway, I really hate bullying, so I don't think it's wise to invent such pranks. Documenting existing ones here is fine, in fact, it's precisely the sort of thing this page should do, but it shouldn't encourage kids to attempt that sort of thing. Deep breath, rant over. RobbieG 15:28, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

There are a lot of things which get inserted which are simply fantasies. Very few school pranks involve actual exreta, actual nudity or actual assault - most of the cruft that has been and gone and come back and gone again and so on in this article is of the adolescent fantasy variety with no provable basis. I think any prank which gets inserted as an example should be sourced. I was not the first to remove the list, but I did spend some time removing the completely unsourced and nonsensical. I was initially quite annoyed when all that hard work was blown away to remove the pranks entirely, but actually I am persuaded that the majority of it simply fails WP:NFT and it's highly unlikely that the reader would lok for it here. Just zis Guy you know? 13:10, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

==I thought I was reading uncyclopedia here, was expecting a prank called Suprise Buttsecks! JayKeaton 08:02, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Don't worry. JzG will delete anything that wasn't a prank when he went to school 30 years ago.

Wow, lots of support for JzG over here too. Not suprised. Fresheneesz 23:35, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
See WP:100. Next? Just zis Guy you know? 13:06, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Sexist.

I'm not sexist, I'm aware that I made some massive generalisations here, and I acknowledged that. I'm just speaking from personal experience. When I was younger, most of the cruder and more violent kids in my school were boys. I'm not saying that always applies. It's just my own experience.
To be honest, I'm embarrassed that wrote such a long rant at all (I was in a bad temper at the time so I overreacted). RobbieG 21:47, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

Extreme shortening

So what FlareNUKE did is to cut out every example. I think I agree with this, as he mentions the history of prank flash as an example. It's a good example in my opinion. However, we don't have an article NEARLY as good as they have for their list (and the use of 'their' is very POV, I know). Its formatting is superb. Scoutersig 05:16, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

I don't think the formatting matters, if the article was just a big list and nothing else I'd still remove it . . . however if you have a dispute we'll meet each other half way… I'll keep only the most well-known of pranks. --FlareNUKE 00:44, 11 June 2006 (UTC)
You might know all these pranks but I don't, to me it is valuable encyclopaedic reference. So please leave it in. Also, it took a lot of people a lot of work to write it up in the first place. Thanks. Maikel 12:30, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Sourcing

Many of these articles don't cite a verifiable source. Sourcing needs to be added. Happy slapping and the Wedgie entry are good examples of the sourcing that needs to be added for entries without references.--Isotope23 17:05, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Ingenious pranks

I think it would be very excellent if we could find adequate sourcing for some truely ingenious pranks that were pulled. At my old HS, theres a pseudo-tradition of "senior pranks". Most are junk - but a few are so interesting that they would interest readers. For example, some kids filled in a classroom door with bricks and morter so that it looked like the door never existed. Another trick that was pulled was switching two teachers rooms *exactly*. One teacher found this a great prank, and the other was furious. Another I can think of was filling a room with baloons - not quite as ingenious but its another room-related prank that I can remember. My school is Menlo-Atherton if anyone is curious.

If other people can get together some truely amazing pranks, this page could be very interesting. Fresheneesz 23:40, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

If this can be documented with reference to reliable secondary sources there is no reason why not. The major problem with the list which keeps being reinserted here is that it lacks any sources at all. Just zis Guy you know? 13:05, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
Mooning, Wedgie, Nipple Cripple and Happy Slapping are referenced and you still keep throwing them out. So much for exactness. Maikel 13:47, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
I actually left them in the version I did, but someone else removed all the pranks, for what seemed to me to be acceptable and pragmatic reasons. Just zis Guy you know? 11:30, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Dacking?

I have to say I never heard any of the terms listed in the article used in relation to pulling someone's pants down while I was at high school in NZ. The term used was almost exclusively "Downtrow" (or "Downtrou"), from Down Trousers. It may have been a regional variation, but "Daks" for underpants is largely an Australian term and wasn't heard much in the South Island of NZ in the late '90s...--Commander Zulu 11:11, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Been tagged as uncited on and off for a while, so removed. Along with the usual references to genitalia; for some unaccountable reason every new reference to breasts or genitals turns out to be uncited... Just zis Guy you know? 11:35, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Here's a source from one of Australia's largest news organisations, with the term 'dacking' in the headline [3]. Trust me, it is the predominant term for 'pantsing' in Australia Stuart mcmillen 06:25, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

In my childhood, this act was always referred to as a "rear admiral".

Banana skin/peel

It's quite an interesting one this - I think it must be a Transatlantic difference, because in the UK it's always referred to as a banana skin - the term is also used colloquially as a phrase for a potential hazzard, for example it's used in an episode of Yes Minister (Party Games). If you put it into the BBC site search, there are far more entries for skin than peel. Also, doesn't it just sound more amusing as well? Bob 20:12, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

I can neither confirm nor deny it's a transatlantic difference. On the left side of the pond, it's peel. In the Banana article, it's peel, except for one reference to smoking the skins. (Besides, "peel" makes for more puns, as in "a peel" vs. "appeal". But perhaps that's only considered humor, and not humour.) I guess we need both in the article. — Arthur Rubin | (talk) 20:39, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Wet willy

What is this? Could someone please add, as it already redirects here! Thanks

--131.111.203.148 19:04, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

A wet willy refers to the act of licking your finger and unexpectedly sticking it in someone's ear (usually accompanied by swiping it around the ear canal to ensure maximum ear wetness).

People keep removing that section because it's apparently unsourced. Do I have to go out and write a book on all the schoolyard pranks of my childhood in order for this to be left alone? Frotz661 21:08, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

No MIT hacks?

I'm surprised at the lack of MIT hacks (pranks to the uninformed) here. Some of those hacks are the stuff of legends; it's not often you see a fully-assembled piano on top of a dome building. --Djseifer 21:32, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Tried MIT hack? :) Andymc 17:11, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
.....well, I feel sheepish. Djseifer 18:33, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, that's nice...

It's good to see some admins aren't afraid to abuse their power every once in a while. Way to go, JzG! 70.53.111.162 00:05, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Is this for real?

It seems quite silly for an encyclopedia. GBYork 01:46, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

AfD

So an admin removed the AfD and blocked the user who apparently had made multiple alleged bad faith noms lately; however, since the nom went up on this article, another user voted for deletion; therefore I think we should restore the tag and allow the AfD to play out. Peyna 02:39, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Nugget

has anyone here experienced what they call a "nugget"? please tell me it's not a sydney thing. if you don't know, a nugget is usually done on a bag, which you take everything in the biggest pocket out, flip the bag inside out, and put everything back in and zip it up. should we add this to the article? - EmeZxX 13:49, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Ah yes. In the US it is called "turtling" as the bag resembles a turtle hiding in its shell. - Amorwikipedia 20:25, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Sexual Harassment

I find it so absurd that it is noted that "Bra Snap" is sexual harassment, when almost the entire list is only variations of physical abuse. Perhaps not the mooning, though that is probably more degrading to the performer him-/herself.

My point is: when listing 14 assaults, why only point out the juridical consequences of one of them? 85.225.26.31 23:26, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Should "Stink Palm" be listed?

Brodie Bruce has a link here for "stink palm", and it isn't listed. Should I add it? --BLuToRsE 23:59, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Someone should. How else can we find out about "stink palm"? 208.165.251.17 13:55, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

In that context, it appears not to be a school prank, just a simple assault. — Arthur Rubin | (talk) 14:10, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Goosing

Same for goosing. It redirects here but nobody explains exactly what it is.

There was an article about it, but it was deleted twice. Why is this? There's no sources– it's just somewhat of a modern Ivy League tradition or practical joke.

Pink Belly?

I found a link that redirected me here and it looks like it was deleted a long time ago. I was just wondering if i should add it or what. It was in the simpsons if that counts as a citation.

Warm Water Prank

Is the authenticity of the prank ever documented? I recall it being tested once on Brainiac with a negative effect - the idea that it works to be more of an urban legend. --82.139.47.117 08:07, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Eraser burn

Why does Eraser burn redirect here? It's not a prank, it's the result of vigerously rubbing an eraser on your arm (and possibly other parts of your body, though I've only seen it done to the arm about about an inch or two below the wrist) until it burns through your skin. It's sort of like cutting yourself, except less drastic. Hurts like hell, too. I've tried it before. My point is why does it redirect here when it's not a prank? Can we remove the redirect or move it to a different page? // Sasuke-kun27 01:28, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Pile-on

Please help providing reliable sources for article recreation in Talk:Pile-on. `'mikka 19:51, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

stop hitting yourself

Someone reverted "stop hitting yourself" because it is unsourced. Most of the pranks here are unsourced and I think this is a good example of a time to WP:Ignore all rules until a source about school yard pranks can be found. Stop hitting yourself is definitely a notable prank, one only need watch the simpsons. So please say if you think we should keep 'stop hitting yourself' and/or the other unsourced pranks. Diletante 16:40, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

There are notes throughout the article that only sourced pranks are to be listed. Alternatively, the entire article could be deleted, as I originally suggested, or it could be merged into hazing. — Arthur Rubin | (talk) 19:01, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Real documentation

I found a book on Amazon that documents many of the pranks that are constantly removed. I think it might be good enough to allow that unreferenced tag. The book is "Atomic Wedgies, Wet Willies, and Other Acts of Roguery" by Greg Tananbaum and Dan Martin. Frotz 08:49, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Noogie

Among other aforementioned words, "noogie" redirects here, but there is no explanation of what a noogie is on the page itself. Colmillo 07:14, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Willy-nilly

Willy-nilly redirects here too, without ever clarifying what the word means. In the context where i found it, it most certainly does not refer to any typ of school prank, so.. what does it mean!? This page was of no help at all. 130.243.113.44 14:31, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Willy-nilly usually has the same meaning as arbitrary at least in the colloquial usage I am familiar with. -- Diletante 20:01, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Define what a prank is

I guess the notability of this article has already been discussed, so I won't comment on that. However, I do have a suggestion.

The first sentence is a little weak as far as a definition goes. How about improving it by including the meaning of a prank, that is: a trick of an amusing, playful, or sometimes malicious nature. (www.dictionary.com). Maybe the first sentence could be "A school prank is an amusing, playful or sometimes malicious trick pulled at school by a student or group of students ..."? Truthanado 02:04, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

Additional Reference Sources

Alan Abel (1983). Don’t Get Mad, Get Even. W W Norton & Co Inc. ISBN 978-0393301182.

Jane Inder and Hilary Eyre (1994). Don’t Get Mad – Get Even. Paladin Press. ISBN 978-0873647960.

George Hayduke (2001). The Big Book Of Revenge: 200 Dirty Tricks for Those Who Are Serious About Getting Even. Citadel. ISBN 978-0806521411 ```` —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 63.250.236.163 (talk) 14:18, 1 May 2007 (UTC).

Oddly enough, even though those may be references for the pranks, they are not necessarily references for School pranks. They probably should not be in the reference section unless someone can give a specific cite. — Arthur Rubin | (talk) 17:01, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Sources

What exactly can we use as sources? If I make a website about this stuff then I can't use it because of the origional research thing right? So what do we do. There aren't very many pranks you can post with sources and all the good ones aren't sourced--Cadet hastings 15:17, 23 May 2007 (UTC)