Whale tail
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Whale tail is the waistband of a thong or g-string when visible above the waistline of low-rise pants, shorts, or a skirt creating a shape resembling a whale's tail.[1][2][3] A closely related exposure of underwear, where the it is exposed through the clothing, is called a visible panty line, or VPL.[4]
Fashion phenomenon
The whale tail is exposed above the trousers mostly when sitting or bending, or even permanently, depending on the style of trousers the style of underwear, and the way they are worn. The appearance of this Y-shaped fabric termed a whale tail may be deliberate or unintentional. Specially designed trousers like low-rise jeans or hip-huggers and higher cut thongs lead to greater exposure of the whale tail.[1][2][3][4]
The increased popularity of low-rise jeans has led to increased exposure of the whale tails in the late 2000s. The phenomenon has been compared to the phenomenon of visible bra straps.[5][6] Jess Cartner-Morley, fashion writer of The Guardian, claimed that following pop stars in the hipster trousers gave rise to the "low-slung jeans, whale-tail G-string era".[7] She quoted Louise Hunn, editor of the British edition of InStyle, as saying — "When a look goes too mainstream, people start wearing it badly. And then the really fashionable people run a mile" — while discussing the rising trend of exposing muffin tops and whale tails led by the popularity of hipster jeans.[8]
The layered clothing trend of the 2000s is led by the whale tail style that incorporates hip-hugger jeans, crop tops and high riding thongs popularized by Britney Spears and Anna Kournikova.[9] The New York Times claimed that the thong, with straps worn high over the hips, exposed by fashionable low-rise jeans and Juicy Couture sweat pants, became a public icon. It says, "Just as Madonna made bras a public garment in the 1980's, Ms. Lewinsky, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton transformed women's panties into a provocative garment intended for public display." It also quoted web sites chronicling bad celebrity thong moments, including a caption on whale-tail.com — "Ginger Spice in a fiery red thong with the tag hanging out — CLASSY!"[10]
Linguistic phenomenon
I like it when the beat goes da na da na
Baby make your booty go da na da na Girl I know you wanna show da na da na
That thong th thong thong thong.
- Sisqó (Thong Song)
The word was selected by the American Dialect Society (a group of linguists, editors, and academics) in January 2006 as the "most creative word" of 2005, winning by 44 votes. The other nominations for the year were muffin top, the bulge of flesh hanging over the top of low-rider jeans (25 votes), flee-ancée, runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks (15 votes), and pinosaur, a very old Wollemi pine tree near Australia’s Blue Mountain (6 votes).[11] While discussing these new coinages Sali Tagliamonte, associate professor of linguistics at the University of Toronto, observed that young women in North America were ahead of young men as influencers.[12] The innovation of References to the whale tail as an underwear phenomenon has shown up in serious mainstream news media.[13][14] Sisqó, the R&B artist, rhapsodized about whale tails in his Thong Song.[10] Wayne Glowka, member of the Georgia College and State University faculty and head of the New Word Committee of the Dialect Society, said about the happening, "Language is just going on its merry way, creating many new words. It's time for men to win something."[15]
The term whale tail has been used to refer to large rear spoilers on the trunk lid of a Porsche.[16] A certain type of bicycle handle is also known as whale tail, while other types of handle are the regular bicycle type and handles without a belly bar.[17]
See also
External links
Footnotes and references
- ^ a b Double-Tongued Dictionary
- ^ a b Urban Dictionary
- ^ a b Reduplicatives on Celebrate Today
- ^ a b Underwear exposed over trousers, Art of Dress Designing, Global Media, ISBN 8190457578
- ^ Gross anatomy: Girls, TimeOut NewYork
- ^ Fairwell to fashion faux pas of summer, Star Tribune
- ^ Jess Cartner-Morley, One-piece in our time, Guardian
- ^ Jess Cartner-Morley, No time to waist, FairFax Digital quoting the Guardian
- ^ 2000s Encyclopedia, AllExperts.com
- ^ a b Alex Kczynski, Now You See It, Now You Don't, New York Times
- ^ "Words of the Year 2005" (PDF). American Dialect Society. 2006-01-06.
- ^ John Harlow, Hey exogals, girl talk is the future of English, The Sunday Times, January 8, 2006
- ^ CNN Transcripts of Showbiz Tonight
- ^ CNN transcripts of The Situation Room
- ^ Marsh Mercer, Word of year might be something manly, Seattle Pi, January 3, 2007
- ^ "Porsche 911 History". edminds.com.
- ^ Guide handle for a manually steered machine, Patent Storm