Does anyone know the origin of the term "g-string" (clothing)? All of the dictionaries I've looked at are uncertain about the origin of the word. I even tried googling for the answer, but to no avail.
Learn English – Origin of “g-string”
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Best Answer
Opinions about the origin vary, which is a sign that no one really knows the answer. Here are some discussions of the quustion in various reference works.
From Mitford Mathews, A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles (1951):
From Don Wilmeth, The Language of American Popular Entertainment: A Glossary of Argot, Slang and Terminology (1981):
From Robert Chapman, New Dictionary of American Slang (1986):
From Barbara Kipfer & Robert Chapman, Dictionary of American Slang, fourth edition (2005):
From Robert Hendrickson, The QPB Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, fourth edition (2008):
So your question about the origin of G-string might actually be separated into three distinct questions: (1) why did U.S. settlers on the Great Plains in the 1870s call the rawhide band used to hold a Native American's loincloth in place a "geestring"? (2) why did U.S. dance-art enthusiasts call the genital covering used by striptease artists a G-string? (3) what connection is there between the nineteenth-century "gee string" and the 1930s–present "G-string"?
I will run some database searches into those questions and add to this answer if I find anything interesting.
On the transition from 'geestring' to G-string'
With regard to the question of the connection between geestring and G-string, it is noteworthy that G string appears as early as 1881 as spelling variant for geestring. From "Society Report," in the [Globe City] Arizona Silver Belt (July 16, 1881):
As for the transition between geestring as a breechclout and G-string as striptease accoutrement, a newspaper instance of "gee string" from 1921 may provide a missing link. From "Fringe Sewed on Beach Queens Who Lack Conscience," in the [Coronado, California] Strand (August 20, 1921):
An Elephind search also yields three matches for the odd expression "bust a G string"(one each from Australia, California, and Virginia) and two for "broke a G string" (from Colorado and Illinois)—all between 1907 and 1937. The earliest of these appears in Marion Hill, "The Busiest Dollar," in the Los Angeles [California] Herald (February 24, 1907):
And the last of them is from "Those Shorts," in the [Kilgoorlie, Western Australia] Western Argus (July 13, 1937):
Earliest match for 'G-string' in the context of ecdesiast performances
The earliest match I have found for G-string as a vestigial garment worn by otherwise naked lady dancers is from "Nudist Style in Night Life Latest Vogue: Paris Music Halls and Clubs Using G-String for Dress," in the Breckenridge [Texas] American (April 26, 1935):