A mock merkin used at Burning Man

A merkin (first use, according to the OED, 1617) is a pubic wig, originally worn by prostitutes after shaving their genitalia to eliminate lice or to disguise the marks of syphilis. There are many different ways of wearing a merkin, although most involve placing the merkin on the vulva or the scrotum. In current times, Merkins have become popular in Japan (where they are known as "Night Flowers"), and are sold to physiologically immature girls and young women to "normalize" body appearance. They usually come from Chinese suppliers, who hand-weave the hair into a net backing. Each merkin is then trimmed to fit the customer's particular body shape. Merkin may be: merkin, a pubic wig Merkin Concert Hall Category: ... Image File history File links Merkinlight. ... Image File history File links Merkinlight. ... The event is named after its Saturday night ritual, the burning of a wooden effigy. ... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most successful dictionary of the English language, (not to be confused with the one-volume Oxford Dictionary of English, formerly New Oxford Dictionary of English, of... Pubic hair is hair in the frontal genital area, the crotch, and sometimes at the top of the inside of the legs; these areas form the pubic region. ... A wig or toupee is a head of hair - human, horse-hair or synthetic - worn on the head for fashion or various other aesthetic and stylistic reasons, including cultural and religious observance. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... This article is about the use of a razor. ... A sex organ, or primary sexual characteristic, narrowly defined, is any of those parts of the body (which are not always bodily organs according to the strict definition) which are involved in sexual reproduction and constitute the reproductive system in an complex organism; namely: Male: penis (notably the glans penis... Suborders Anoplura (sucking lice) Rhyncophthirina Ischnocera (avian lice) Amblycera (chewing lice) Lice (singular: louse) (order Phthiraptera) are an order of over 3000 species of wingless parasitic insects. ... Syphilis is a curable sexually transmitted disease caused by the Treponema pallidum spirochete. ... The external genital organs of the female are collectively known as the vulva (plural vulvae or vulvas)[1]. In common speech, the term vagina is often used improperly to refer to the vulva or female genitals generally, even though, strictly speaking, the vagina is a specific internal structure, whereas the... In some male mammals, the scrotum is a protuberance of skin and muscle containing the testicles. ...

The term is also applied to decorative (typically sequinned) patches commonly sold in sets with nipple tassels or "pasties" and are enjoying new popularity as part of the costume of new burlesque adult entertainment, amongst whom the most famous modern day artistes are Dita Von Teese and Immodesty Blaize. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with New Burlesque. ... Dita Von Teese (born Heather Renée Sweet on September 28, 1972) is a popular American burlesque artist, model and actress. ...

Houghton Mifflin's American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition describes the term's etymology as stemming from an "alteration of obsolete malkin, lower-class woman, mop, from Middle English; from Malkin, diminutive of the personal name Matilda."^[1] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (AHD) is a dictionary of American English published by Boston publisher Houghton-Mifflin, the first edition of which appeared in 1969. ...

It has also been suggested that, in the period when boy actors played female parts, they would cover their genitals with a merkin so they could expose themselves as women in bawdy scenes.^[2]

A "short and curly history of the merkin" in The Guardian provided a partial history of the merkin. It highlighted "comedy terrorist" Aaron Barschak's flashing of a merkin to onlookers. ^[3] For other uses, see Guardian. ... Aaron Barschak (born 1966) styles himself as a Comedy Terrorist and fringe UK politician. ...

Other definitions

A vertical aerodynamic fin called the Merkin first saw its use in Formula One on the Williams FW22A (2000) (as named by Chief Aerodynamicist Geoff Willis), although this name was changed to the more common name of "Forward Guide Vane" after higher authorities found out its true meaning. F1 redirects here. ... Geoffrey Geoff Willis (born December 23, 1959) is Technical Director of the BAR Formula One team. ...

"Merkin" is also used to refer to a male sex-toy in the humorous novels of Tom Sharpe. Both the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and The Joy of Sex define the Merkin as an "artificial vagina."^[4] Tom Sharpe (born March 30, 1928) is an English satirical author, born in London and educated at Lancing College and at Pembroke College, Cambridge. ... The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, often abbreviated to SOED, is a scaled-down version of the Oxford English Dictionary. ... The Joy of Sex was a ground-breaking illustrated sex manual by Alex Comfort, M.D., Ph. ... The vagina, (from Latin, literally sheath or scabbard ) is the tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. ...

In gay slang, "merkin" is often used to refer to a man who dates (or occasionally one who marries) a lesbian, usually for the purpose of making her appear heterosexual for various social reasons. Gay slang or LGBT slang in linguistics refers to a form of English slang used predominantly among LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people. ... This article is about same-sex desire and sexuality among women. ...

On certain Usenet groups, "merkin" or "'merkin" can be used to refer to Americans in general, especially those who exhibit "ugly American" tendencies. The term is derived from a phonetic rendering of "American." This usage is fully aware of the standard definition.^[5] Usenet (USEr NETwork) is a global, decentralized, distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name. ... For other uses of the term, see Ugly American (disambiguation). ...

Also the name of the Merrick summer Lacrosse League.

Merkins in popular culture

The term merkin is used frequently in literature, film, music, and art as an inside joke. Several examples of this include: An in joke is a joke whose humour is clear only to those people who are in a group that has some prior knowledge (not known by the whole population) that makes the joke humorous. ...

• The narrator, Humbert Humbert, in Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita (1955), recalls, "Although I told myself I was looking merely for a soothing presence, a glorified pot-au-feu, an animated merkin, what really attracted me to Valeria was the imitation she gave of a little girl."

• Pynchon, in Gravity's Rainbow, says, "He wears a false cunt and merkin of sable both handcrafted...by the notorious Mme. Ophir."

• The character of President Merkin Muffley, played by Peter Sellers in Stanley Kubrick's black comedy Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is satirically named after this object. Coupled with his last name, "muff" being slang for pubic hair.

• The 1969 film Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? written by and starring Anthony Newley, is a veritable cornucopia of dirty-joke names. In addition to the two in the title, there's a character (played by Joan Collins), named Polyester Poontang.

• Pearl Jam and Neil Young released a two-song companion to Mirror Ball called Merkin Ball.

• Australian talk show host Rove McManus jokes frequently on his show about merkins including wearing a shirt for the Merkins basketball team.

• In the film PCU there is a fictional band named The Merkins.

• In the late 90s an email containing complaints about email forwards was circulated as being written by a young man named Alfonso Merkin.

• Rob Corddry (previously of the The Daily Show) was a member of an improv group named "Merkin" because his mother used an albino merkin in her college Vaudeville and Ragtime show.

• "Merkin" is the name of a character in the Sandman comic book.

• In an episode of Family Guy, an advertising agent offers Joe Swanson a car, his pants and a merkin so that he will sign up for an advertising contract.

• Maynard James Keenan of Tool owns Merkin Vineyards in Arizona.

• On the 1967 Chess LP The Baroques by the Milwaukee band of the same name, the word "merkin" is heard in the song "Bicycle." The lyric is "...I'll take back the merkin I gave you for Christmas, and you'll be sorry when the wind gets cold, 'cause it'll be hanging from the aerial of my bicycle...."

• On The Sopranos' Episode 26 (Season Two), "Funhouse", Tony comes home with a garment bag that supposedly contains his new suit. He reveals his surprise gift of a fur coat to his wife, Carmela, by unzipping the bag and exclaiming, "Holy shit! My suit's grown a fuckin' beard! ... Growin' a beard or a merkin or somethin'!"

• In episode 86 of Sex and the City, entitled "One," Kim Cattrall wears a bright orange merkin that resembles a clown's wig during a scene in which her character, Samantha Jones, discovers that her attempt to color her pubic hair has gone awry. Michael Patrick King , the show's Executive Producer, mentions this on the DVD's audio commentary track.

• Charles Fleischer did a bit in one of his stand-up routines explaining what a merkin was, and then continued it to rhyming extremes: "...if you put on that merkin, he'll be smirkin', and lurkin', and jerkin' his gherkin..."

• In Season 4 of The L Word, character Stacy Merkin, played by Heather Matarazzo, reviews Jenny Schecter's book. Jenny begins referring to Merkin simply as "vagina wig" for several episodes, as well as explaining the meaning of the last name.

• The indie rock outfit, Destruction Island, has released an album called "Mouthful of Merkin."

• In the September 17, 2007 edition of the webcomic Achewood, Ray is shown after having bought a merkin on eBay for unspecified reasons.

• The Austin, Texas, band the Pocket Fishermen have a merkin song cycle on their 1998 release Simian Dreams. These songs include "Medieval Merkin", "American Merkin", and "David of the Merkin".

• In the episode of the Simpsons titled "Margical History Tour" (Season 15, Episode 11), a Bart-esque character is seen asking a character resembling Homer if he has been "jerkin'" his merkin too frequently.
• A US Army aviation unit in Viet Nam (Aviation Section, HHC, 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division) used Merkin as a radio call sign. The unit had four UH-1H Huey and four OH-6A LOH helicopters. It was based at Tan An, SW of Saigon on Highway One.

• In a filming of ESPN GameDay, a fan was spotted holding a sign that read "Lee Corso wears a Merkin"

• In Richard Dresser's play Below The Belt, one of the characters is named Merkin. The playwright did this intentionally, wanting the character's name to represent the idea of concealment in a vulgar way.

• In series 4 episode 4 of QI Rory Bremner used the term when imitating George Bush "I'm proud to be a merkin"

• On November 28, 2007, Keith Olberman stated that maybe Britney Spears would use the wig, she reportedly stole from a Hustler store, as a merkin.

• On November 30, 2007, Chris and Mel from Movin 107.5's morning radio show in Dallas, TX suggested getting Britney Spears a merkin.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Набо́ков, pronounced ) (April 22 [O.S. April 10] 1899, Saint Petersburg – July 2, 1977, Montreux) was a Russian-American, Academy Award nominated author. ... Lolita (1955) is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov. ... A pot-au-feu, with this recipe. ... Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. ... Gravitys Rainbow is an epic postmodern novel written by Thomas Pynchon and first published on February 28, 1973. ... Peter Sellers, CBE (8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was a British comedian and actor best known for his three roles in Dr. Strangelove and as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther films. ... Kubrick redirects here. ... For the hit 1987 single by Depeche Mode, see the album Music for the Masses Film poster for Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a 1964 satirical film directed by Stanley Kubrick. ... Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? is a 1969 film directed by and starring Anthony Newley. ... Anthony George Newley (born on September 24, 1931 in the London Borough of Hackney; died on April 14, 1999) was an English actor, singer and songwriter. ... Joan Henrietta Collins OBE (born May 23, 1933) is a Golden Globe Award winning English actress and bestselling author. ... This article is about the rock group. ... This article is about the musician. ... This is an article about the rock album Mirror Ball, for the lighting device see disco ball Mirror Ball is an album by Neil Young and Pearl Jam. ... A talk show (U.S.) or chat show (Brit. ... John Rove McManus (born January 21, 1974) is a Gold Logie Award winning Australian variety show host, and owner of the production company Roving Enterprises. ... Sara Giauro shoots a three-point shot, FIBA Europe Cup for Women Finals 2005 For other uses, see Basketball (disambiguation). ... PCU is a 1994 comedy film. ... This is a list of characters appearing in The Sandman comic book, published by DC Comics Vertigo imprint. ... “Ready, Willing, and Disabled” is an episode of Family Guy. ... Family Guy is an Emmy Award-winning American animated television series about a dysfunctional family in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island. ... Lieutenant Joseph Joe Swanson is a fictional character in the Fox animated television show Family Guy. ... Maynard James Keenan (born April 17, 1964, as James Herbert Keenan) is an American rock singer. ... Tool is a Grammy-award winning American rock band, formed in 1990 in Los Angeles, California. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the television series. ... Sex and the City is a popular American cable television program. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Charles Fleischer (born August 27, 1950) is an American actor, comedian and voice artist. ... This article is about the TV series. ... Webcomics, also known as online comics and internet comics, are comics that are available to read on the Internet. ... Achewood is a webcomic created by Chris Onstad. ... The Simpsons. ... Margical History Tour is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons fifteenth season. ... For other uses, see QI (disambiguation). ... Keith Olbermann Keith Olbermann (born January 27, 1959 in New York City, New York) is an American news anchor and radio sportscaster. ... Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is a Grammy Award-winning[1] American pop singer, dancer, actress, author and songwriter. ... Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is a Grammy Award-winning[1] American pop singer, dancer, actress, author and songwriter. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

merkins

• Straight Dope article on merkins
• Alt-usage-english.org Michael B. Quinion and Ruth Bygrave, "Merkin"
• Maven's Word of the Day: merkin
• Live Pelt
• The latest (09/06) in merkin and real pubic fashion
• Mirkin is a last name often spelled as above

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... People with this surname: David Mirkin, an American feature film and television director, writer and producer Harris Mirkin, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Missouri, Kansas City (UMKC) Marcelo Mirkin, an award-winning international Pop star Sergey Mirkin, previous founder of web sites: gnafi. ...

References