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Swirlie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article or section deals primarily with the United States and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
A swirlie (less commonly "swirly") is a bullying or hazing ritual common to the United States, involving turning a victim upside down and forcing the victim's head into a toilet bowl while the toilet is in mid flush. The head is usually only slightly immersed, as the intention is not to drown the victim, but rather to create the distinctive "swirl" in the victim's hair.
The swirlie often requires more than one perpetrator. This is one of many points which distinguish the swirlie from other pranks, such as the wedgie, which is generally carried out by a lone attacker.
However, the swirlie resembles the wedgie in many striking respects: it is a physically and psychologically humiliating tactic favored of juvenile bullies, the name is similar, and there are myriad harsher variations of each ritual delineated by fanciful adjectives.
For the swirlie, variations include the "chocolate swirlie", the "lemon swirlie", and the "chunky swirlie" involving a toilet bowl containing faeces, urine and vomit, respectively.
In the UK, the swirlie is referred to as the bogwash. Many children moving up into secondary school fear the bogwash[citation needed], but in practice it rarely happens.