Go to: Guardian Unlimited homeUK newsWorld newsComment is free blogSport blogArts & entertainment blogPodcastsIn picturesVideo----------------------Archive searchArts and entertainmentBooksBusinessEducationGuardian.co.ukEnvironmentFilmFootballJobsKatine appealLife and styleMediaGuardian.co.ukMoneyMusicThe ObserverPoliticsScienceShoppingSocietyGuardian.co.ukSportTalkTechnologyTravelBeen there----------------------AudioEmail servicesSpecial reportsThe GuardianThe northernerThe wrap----------------------Advertising guideCompare finance productsCrosswordFeedbackGarden centreGNM press officeGraduateGuardian BookshopGuardianEcostoreGuardianFilmsHeadline serviceHelp / contactsInformationLiving our valuesNewsroomNotes & QueriesReader OffersSoulmates datingStyle guideSyndication servicesTravel offersTV listingsWeatherWeb guidesWorking for us----------------------Guardian AbroadGuardian WeeklyMoney ObserverPublicLearnGuardian back issuesObserver back issuesGuardian Professional
News
Sport
Comment
Culture
Business
Money
Life & style
Travel
Environment
TV
Video
Data
Mobile
Offers
Jobs
News
Guardian
Home
Recent queries
Send a query
Crossword
Lucky dip
Any answers?
About Notes and Queries
Sudoku
Categories
Nooks and crannies
Yesteryear
Semantic enigmas
The body beautiful
Red tape, white lies
Speculative science
This sceptred isle
Root of all evil
Ethical conundrums
This sporting life
Stage and screen
Birds and the bees
NOOKS AND CRANNIESWhat does the 'G' in G-string mean?
Sian Walker, Hove England
Gee!
Dave Kernick, Princeton, BC Canada
Gussett. The garment is basically a gussett on a string.
Jane Scott, Nottingham
Groin. (See Webster's New Yorld Dictionary, 3rd Edition)
Joshua Dibble, Ithaca USA
G is the note you get when you play it.
Robert Hanstock, Pangbourne England
Not being a musician this is a guess. The smallest string on a, guitar is the G string, G strings are very small, etc. etc.
Richard Hines, Perth Western Australia
The origin is uncertain. The earliest citation is as American English "gee string" (1878 )for a loincloth,or breechcloth, but probably once just the *string* holding up the cloth, as worn by AmerInds, rather than the whole 'garment' (which I suppose the modern version is, in the briefest possible way). The first cited spelling 'G string' (US 1891) was perhaps influenced by G-tuned string of violin (cited as G string 1831). The first striptease use for 'G string' is US (1936) in Don Passos' "Big Money".
