Merkin

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For the concert hall, see Merkin Concert Hall.

A mock merkin used at Burning Man

A merkin (first use, according to the OED, 1617) is a pubic wig, 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.

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]

A "short and curly history of the merkin" in The Guardian June 26, 2003 provided a partial history of the merkin. It highlighted "comedy terrorist" Aaron Barschak's flashing of a merkin to onlookers. [2]

1 Other definitions
2 Merkins in popular culture
3 External links
4 Reference

[edit] Other definitions

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"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"

In Europe, "Merkin" has also been used as a colloquial term for an American since the 1960s. (Although it is usually pronounced as "murrakin.") The OED reports that the term has become common internet slang for Americans or American English (it is regularly used, for example, on the newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett, and has spread from there to some other Discworld fan groups). "Murrikan" has been spelled many ways, many of which are homonyms and only coincidentally sound like merkin, for example "murcan" or "murkan". "Merrikan" is the English-descended language featured in Katherine Kerr's science fiction novels.

The term can be used when referring mockingly to rural Americans, who believe themselves to be true 'Merkins, standing in contrast to being a ferner from Yerp (foreigner from Europe).

In Europe, the slur "ugly Merkin" refers to uncultured residents of the USA. It is also commonly applied to US visitors to Europe who are thought to make self aggrandising claims of wealth and status. Characteristics associated with "Merkins" include boorishness, boasting (as opposed to European understatement), overly extravagant, colourful and tasteless dress as well as frequent unfavourable comparisons between America and Europe.

In gay slang, a merkin means the "official" male companion of a closeted female homosexual used to help allay suspicion that she is a lesbian (i.e., the male equivalent of a beard).

British impressionist Rory Bremner recently made a joke referring to George Bush's fascination with merkins: "I'm proud to be 'a merkin'." ('American')

[edit] Merkins in popular culture

The term merkin has been given legitimacy by frequent usage in literature, film, music, and art. Several examples of this include:

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.

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

Australian talk show host Rove McManus has appeared on his show Rove Live with a fake shirt from the basketball team The Merkins. He is known to have used several jokes about the merkin.

In the 2005 film Waiting..., the character of Naomi lifts her skirt to reveal a thick, matted patch of pubic hair. While in the film this is intended to represent Naomi's real pubic hair, the actress (Melissa Alonzo, credited as "stunt bush") is in fact wearing a merkin.

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

In the sixth season of Sex and the City, Kim Cattrall's character Samantha Jones discovers a gray hair "down there" and dyes all her pubic hair. Although the term "merkin" is not used in the show, in the bonus commentary track available on the DVD of the sixth season, executive producer Michael Patrick King explains that the shot of Samantha's pubic hair was actually of a merkin.

"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.

1310 The Ticket, a sports station in Dallas, has made Merkin a very popular phrase in the DFW community. Furio Fan made a song that wasn't allowed to air, that had too many merkin references. The Ticket is also noted for getting professional sport figures like former Cowboys kicker Mike Vanderjagt to say "merkin" on air. Vanderjagt was asked to read a fictional promotional advertisement from an index card that had the word Merkin cleverly placed within it.

Maynard James Keenan of Tool owns Merkin Vineyards in Arizona.

In a 2006 episode of ESPN's College Gameday there was a sign in the crowd that read "Lee Corso Wears a Merkin"

Del Brown’s Merkin. A fisherman by the name of Del Brown developed a type of fly used for fly fishing called the Merkin. The pattern is designed to resemble a small crab and is now extensively used when fly fishing for permit in the Keys, particularly Key West, Florida. The fly is created by tying a number of materials together including rug yarn for the body, white rubber (like rubber band) for the legs and chrome beads for eyes to a strong Gamakatsu Wide Gap type hook.

Merkin Valdez, a relief pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.

Jenny on The L Word receives a bad review for her book "Some of her Parts" by Stacy Merkin, played by Heather Matarazzo. She goes on to scream at the receptionist at Curve Magazine saying that Stacy's last name means vagina wig.

In Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Merkin is the name of Dylan's ex-boyfriend Seamus' boat. Dylan also reveals that Merkin was the name of his pitbull.

In the 1999 film Never Been Kissed, Josie's male secretary (played by Sean Whalen) is called Merkin Burns.

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...."