going commando
Who taught: Brian, Sue and Drew
Going Commando (source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/)
Have you seen Commando? You know it, right? Come on, don’t say you do not know that movie! I think I was in either elementary school or in middle school when I first watched it. I liked it.
When I moved into the new house, Brian and Sue gave me a washer and a dryer. I haven’t been able to use because I could not install them by myself. So, two days ago, I asked Dave whether he can come over to see what I should do to install. (Dave is so handy around the house.) After I talked to Dave, I had a short chat with Brian and Sue and mentioned that I talked to Dave to install the washer and the dryer.
As kind of a joke (?), I said, “Finally, I can use the washer. I needed it. I need to wash my underwear. Oops! TMI!”
We all laughed and in response, Brian said something but I did not get it. So, as usual, I said, “Sorry! What did you say?”
He said, “Just going commando.”
Well, I know what commando is but going commando? What is it? From the context, I could feel that it is not like being tough as a man. I thought it would be awkward to ask what that means at that moment because there were Drew’s girlfriend, Carmen and Brian’s daughter, Rachel.
After I got back home, I could not wait to find out what that means. The first thing I did was searching it up. Wow! I was so surprised by its meaning. Can you guess what it is? It has something to do with the lack of clean underwear. If you do not have clean underwear, what is the best option you have? Well, just do not wear it. I mean you do need to wear pants though. Don’t forget that!
To sum it up, going commando means “not wearing any underpants.” Now, I would not recommend to do it, especially in summer.
Wanna know the origin? Here is the origin I found.
The earliest known use of the term in print occurred on January 22, 1985 when Jim Spencer wrote in the Chicago Tribune “Furthermore, colored briefs are ‘sleazy’ and going without underwear (“going commando”, as they say on campus) is simply gross.”
After that, this expression was used in TV shows, Seinfeld and Friends. That is where this expression got popular.
Have I gone commando? Hmm… what do you think? I will say this. Maybe, it is better than wearing dirty underpants.
P.S.: How about women? Can I say Sharon Stone went commando in Basic Instinct?
In my opinion, both women and men can go commando, but the expression does not have a sexy connotation to it. So technically, yes, Sharon Stone went commando in Basic Instinct, but saying it in that way might imply that she ran out of clean underwear, when she did it intentionally.
Thanks, Patty! Not sure what is correct in terms of sexual connotation. But I guess women can go commando. I feel like women should say, go superwoman, instead of go commando just because commando is a guy. š
I beg to differ
Haha.. Intentional to do what?
I meant to post that in reply to Patty’s comment. I thought her comment was saying that if you go commando intentionally, it doesn’t count as going commando. I was disagreeing with that, and trying to be funny. Apparently it didn’t make sense though … I showed it to Jake and he didn’t get it either.
Mark, I laughed!
But also I think that it’s reinforcing my point – if you simply say “I’m going commando,” the connotation is that you ran out of clean underwear due to laundry neglect. The Most Interesting Man in the World had to specify that he had clean underwear available, but intentionally chose not to wear any. Or to put it this way — if a woman whispered in your ear, “I’m going commando” vs. “I’m not wearing any panties”… the physical situation is the same, but the expressions have different connotations (too lazy to do laundry vs. intentionally sexy)
Patty, I’ve never thought of “going commando” as having a connotation of laziness/laundry neglect/lack of clean underwear. I’m sure that people sometimes do go commando for those reasons, but those aren’t the only reasons for going commando. I think a lot of people do it just because they like it and because there are supposedly health benefits to doing so. I’ve always thought of “going commando” as a funny way of saying you’re not wearing any underwear – a slightly less crude and gender-neutral alternative to the phrase “free balling.”
LOL at free balling. I think guys in high school used to talk about free balling just because it was crude
If you spoke free balling in a conversation with me, I would think you were talking about free bowling. Then, my response would be, “Free! Sounds great! Let’s do it.”
I am glad I learned the expression here on my blog in writing. š
T-bone, let’s eat a super salad and then go free bowling!
And I think we might be setting the record for deepest-nested comment thread.
I think, by this comment, this becomes the deepest-nested comment thread.
Assuming that there is really a super salad and free bowling. I think you can cook a super salad for me and pay bowling. š
Terry — did Jake and Carol tell you about the restaurant that we ate at when they visited me in AZ? It was called Souper Salad!
Sounds like you’re defending “going commando” pretty hard here, Mark. Do you have something to confess?
Sorry, nothing to confess. There’s more than just a thin layer of gabardine between me and the world. I’m not out there and loving every minute of it.
Not that there’s anything wrong with it. Going commando is a valid lifestyle choice.
Nice one Terry!
As always, I am learning new expressions from your blog š
Thanks!
Thanks, Ari! I will do my best to update you with many many new ones.