G-string

A **G-string** or **thong** is a narrow piece of cloth or leather, or plastic that passes between the buttocks. It  is attached to a band around the hips. It can be worn as a swimwear or  underwear by both men and women. The difference between a G-string and a thong is that a G-string has less material between the legs. This makes it look like a string. Variants of the thong or G-string include the "V-string" and the "T-string".

## Origin of the G-string

The G-string or thong is probably the earliest form of clothing known to mankind. It originated in the warmer climates of sub-Saharan Africa where clothing was first worn almost 75,000 years ago. Many tribal peoples, like some of the Khoisan people of southern Africa, wore thongs for many centuries. These early pieces of clothes were made to fit the male genitalia.

The G-string was first developed for men by primitive peoples. However, in modern days, Western thongs are usually worn by females. They first became popular in South America in the 1970s. In Brazil, it was originally a style of swimsuit that had a rear area that became so narrow, that it would disappear between the buttocks.

The origin of the term "G-string" is not fully known. The term was first written about by Americans in the late 1800s. They described the loincloth of Philippine natives. Others say the term came from the G-string on an instrument. The origin of the word "thong" is from the Old English _thwong_, which is a flexible leather cord.

## In other languages

- In Lithuania, the G-string is often called _stringai_ or _siaurikės_.

- In Portugal and Brazil, the G-string is often referred called _fio dental_. This means "dental floss".

- In Italy, the G-string is called _perizoma_.

- In Turkey, the G-string is called _ipli külot_ (_ipli_ means "stringed" and _külot_ means "underpants").

- In French, German and Dutch, the G-string is usually called "string", a loanword from English.

- In Puerto Rico, a Spanish slang term often used for G-string is _gistro_. This is most commonly used by Reggaeton artists to refer to the underwear style.

- In Argentina and Chile, G-string is widely known as _colaless_. In those countries, _cola_ means buttocks. Colaless means "buttocks-less".

- In the Japanese language and in Cantonese, the G-string is widely known as **T-back**. This is because of its shape when seen from behind. The word is sometimes confused with "tea bag". The term T-back is also commonly used in the Philippines. However, there are also several usages of the term "T-back" in English as well. These include Children's literature author E.L. Konigsburg's _T-backs, T-shirts, Coat and Suit_. In other kinds of the Chinese language, the G-string is commonly called _dingziku_ (丁字裤). It means "character pants".

- In Czech, Estonian, Finnish, German, Hungarian and Spanish the G-string is often called _tanga_. In Finnish, the plural _stringit_, "strings", is used, as they are pant**s**, not a "pant".

- In Polish the G-string is usually called _stringi_, which is a pluralized loanword from English (literally: "strings").

- In Australia, only the term G-string is used. Thongs are a type of rubber footwear.

- In Hebrew, the G-string is called a _hutini_, a blend word of the Hebrew word _hut_ (meaning "string") and bikini.