Wedgie

A wedgie occurs when a person's underwear or other garments are wedged between the buttocks. While a wedgie can be created naturally, the term is usually associated with a prank or as a form of bullying. When a person is on the receiving end of a wedgie, his or her underwear is forcibly pulled up by a second person.

Wedgies are commonly featured in popular works, either as a form of low comedy or as a behaviour representative of bullying. In such works, briefs are usually the type of underpants that a wedgie is performed upon.^[1][2]

Dangers

Wedgies, especially when performed on males, can be dangerous, potentially causing testicular or scrotal damage. An incident in 2004 involving a ten-year-old boy required reattachment of a testicle to the scrotum.^[3]

Variations

As a prank or form of bullying, there are a number of variants to the normal wedgie. It is impractical to list every variant, as the names and processes can be rather subjective; however, there are a few better-known variants.

• The Melvin is a variant where the victim's underwear is pulled up from the front, to cause injury, or, at least, severe pain to the victim's genitals.^[4] The female variant is sometimes called a Minerva.
• The Atomic Wedgie entails hoisting the waistband of the receiver's underwear up and over their head.^[4][5]
• The Hanging Wedgie is a variant in which the victim is hung from his or her underwear, elevated above the ground.^[6]

Events

• On April 6, 2006, Fox News reported on an Albany, New York teacher who was arrested for endangering the welfare of a child for giving a 10-year-old student a wedgie.^[7][8]
• In 2007, eight-year-old second graders Jared and Justin Serovich came up with "wedgie-proof" underwear at the Central Ohio Invention Competition 2007 where their invention got them into the finals.^[9]

See also

• List of school pranks

References