Morning All,
As I lay here unable to sleep, a thought entered my head, what names do we use for being unclothed? And I don't mean as in we change our name, but the different names as to the act of being unclothed? A few came to mind straight away, nudist, naturist, in the buff, stripped off and then I started to think of other terms I have heard of/used, skyclad, skinny-dipping (which to be fair is an activity in it's own right), in your birthday suit, au-natural, dis-robed. Were do some of these names/phrases come from? And are there any that are more or less offensive/acceptable than others? These words on there own may not mean much in themselves but in terms of a lifestyle they open up a fantastic alternative world.
Funny what you think about when you can't sleep,
Ged
Without wanting to cause offence, I offer a term that is in it's self a shortened version of a slang UK phrase. The phrase is… 'Bollock Naked' which means that you are so naked your testicles can be seen, this was then shortened to "Bollocko!"
I would like to adopt names which imply that naked is the default state and clothes are added for a special reason. Birthday suit sort of does this. The French 'Au Naturel' is better than any English name I can think of.
How about wearing nothing but your birthday suit.
There is also starkers and stark-naked.
Ah naked as a jaybird, it's been awhile. It does seem the word 'nude" is preferred by the public and I use often. I say 'naked' when I want to imply the vulnerability experience as you point out. the source of 'buck naked' is new to me. I often wondered.
A few years ago, I wrote an essay about this very thing. You along with Adam, Greg and Carl covered most of the terms I came up with including a new one. I never heard the term, until now of course, "bare pickle". That one brings to mind the famous line from May West "Is that a pickle in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?"
I don't think anyone mentioned "nude" which for me brings to mind an artistic sense and probably one if not the most unoffensive of the terms. At least to the general populace; but then again I am not offended by any of the terms.
One term used referring to a nude person as a "jay bird" caught my attention and I discovered that it had nothing at all to do with birds. A "jay" is a term once used to refer to a very unsophisticated person or rube if you will. A person like this was easy prey for con artists and left with nothing sometimes not even his clothes.
During the times of slavery in America, the slaves were brought off the ships to be put on the auction block, and many were not covered with clothing. Since the males were referred to as "bucks", thus came the expression buck naked. Ok this one, now that you know its background, could be considered offensive.
Why are there so many terms for us who prefer not wearing clothes? That my friends is just the nature of language. Every culture has its phrases and expressions that when translated literally to another language don't make sense. It is only in the context of the culture that they can be understood. I like to think of it as a kind of poetry.
As for myself, I prefer the simple term "naked". It implies a certain level of vulnerability. After all, we are at the mercy of the elements of our world, sun and wind can burn us sending us for the aloe lotion and then there are the rough rocks and brambles we often have to traverse to get to the nude beach.
What about clothes-free?
mine
Nude (I know, a variation on nudist), naked (nekkid, buck-naked) I've also heard the term "going bare-pickle". Stripped, streaking (also an activity, like skinny-dipping). Exposed, without-a-stitch, in the raw, in the altogether, bared… I don't think any of them are offensive. Although it does make one wonder, why there are so many terms and phrases for the same state of being?
If you must get up in the morning it stops being funny.:-)
Don't forget bare and bare-ass.