Witch

Witch (pronounced wich)

(1) A person, historically either male or female but now especially a woman, who professes or is supposed to practice magic or sorcery; a sorceress (especially popular in mythology and fiction but also associated with certain societies and historical periods and still current in some countries).

(2) In the weird world of the "new age movement", a practitioner of a nature-based religion founded on ancient beliefs, which honors both a male and female divine principle and includes the practice of magic (associated especially with healing).

(3) An informal and derogatory term for an ugly, mean or wicked old woman; a hag.

(4) Used selectively, a fascinating or enchanting woman (usually in the (figurative) sense of "bewitching").

(5) A person who uses a divining rod; dowser (archaic).

(6) In the sense of "witch-hunt", an intensive effort to discover and expose disloyalty, subversion, dishonesty or the like, based usually on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence.

(7) A flatfish, Pleuronectes (or Glyptocephalus) cynoglossus, of North Atlantic coastal waters, having a narrow greyish-brown body marked with tiny black spots.  The family group is Pleuronectidae (plaice, flounders etc)

(8) In geometry, a certain curve of the third order, also known as versiera.

(9) In entomology, the Indomalayan butterfly Araotes lapithis, of the Lycaenidae family.

Pre 900: From the Middle English wicche from the Old English wicce (sorceress, witch (female)), the feminine forms existing in conjunction with wicca (witch, sorcerer, wizard), the masculine deverbative from wiccian (to practice sorcery) from the Proto-Germanic wikkōną.  Related were the West Frisian wikje, wikke (to foretell, warn), the Low German wicken (to soothsay) and the Dutch wikken, wichelen (to dowse, divine).  Root was the primitive Indo-European wik-néh, derivation of weyk- (to consecrate; separate); akin to the Latin victima (sacrificial victim), the Swedish vicka (to move to and fro), the Lithuanian viẽkas (life-force) and the Sanskrit विनक्ति (vinákti) (to set apart, separate out).  Witch, witchcraft, witcher & witchery are nouns; witching is a verb & adjective and witchy is an adjective, the noun plural is witches.

The homophones “witch” & “which” are yet another pair that must make those learning English wonder how a language with so many curious anomalies became something of the planet’s lingua franca.  Which was from the Middle English which, hwic, wilche, hwilch, whilk & hwilc, from the Old English hwelċ (which), from the Proto-Germanic hwilīkaz (literally “like what” and used in the sense of “what kind”), from hwaz.  It was cognate with the Scots whilk, the West Frisian hokker, the Dutch welk, the Low German welk, the German welcher, the Danish hvilken, the Swedish vilken, the Norwegian hvilken and the Icelandic hvílíkur, all of which convey the sense of the English “which”.  “Which” is used (1) as an interrogative (seeking a choice from a limited number or group implied to be a closed set), (2) as a relative pronoun (either adding introducing clauses or referring to a whole statement or (3) as conditional or indefinite (whichever) operator used to mean any one or whichever option from a group.

An illustrative example was Sir Robert Menzies (1894–1978; Prime Minister of Australia 1939-1941 & 1949-1966) leaving a cocktail party after having been introduced to a number of visiting dignitaries from the Balkans, confessing to his companion he’d be unlikely to recall: “which ‘vitch’ was which”.  In English, the choice between “that” and “which” often baffles but the convention is “that” is used when introducing a restrictive (essential) clause and “which” when the clause is non-restrictive.  To illustrate that (1): “The car that has the red interior is mine” (the clause identifies which car) and (2) “The car, which has a red interior, is mine” (identity of car already certain).  However, “which vs that” is more a convention of style than a hard grammatical “law” and a handy rule of thumb is (1) if “that” can be removed from a sentence without compromising meaning, it should be removed, (2) if a comma exists, use “which” and (3) if there’s no comma, used “that”.  That will please most people most of the time.

An obviously guilty witch haranguing the court, lithograph of a witch trial in Salem, Massachusetts, circa 1692.

The OED (Oxford English Dictionary) does note the generally accepted etymology is not without phonetic or semantic difficulties and suggests some connection with the Old English wigle (divination) and wig & wih (idol), the nouns representing a Proto-Germanic wikkjaz (necromancer) (one who wakes the dead) from the primitive Indo-European weg-yo from weg (to be strong, be lively).  That wicce once had a more specific sense than the later general one of "female magician, sorceress" is suggested by the presence of other words in Old English describing more specific kinds of magical craft.  “Witch doctor” is from circa 1715; from the mid 1830s it was applied to African “healers by means of spells & potions”, soon becoming interchangeable with “medicine man”.  The fear of witches and witchcraft is described as wiccaphobia and neither phobia nor subject has ever been mentioned in the APA’s (American Psychiatric Association) DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) although that’s not unusual, the DSM not listing phobias as distinct diagnostic identities but instead providing diagnostic criteria for categorizing phobias listed under five headings: (1) animal type, (2) natural environment type, (3) blood-injection-injury type, (4) situational type & (5) other types.  Depending on the patient's circumstances, a clinician presumably would place their wiccaphobia in either (4) or (5).

Poster for the movie Warlock (1989).  In Hollywood, warlocks are men and witches are women.

However, although "witchcraft" and "witch" may not appear in the DSM, both terms did once make frequent appearances in the literature of medicine and psychiatry.  Historically, at least some of those accused of practicing witchcraft in the Middle Ages and early modern period are thought to have been experiencing conditions such as severe depression, epilepsy, or psychosis; rather than being condemned as witches, they’d now be diagnosed with a neurological or mental illnesses.  In the modern era, clinicians are trained to detect the difference between true psychotic delusions (a manifestation of irrational phobias) and beliefs a product of cultural or religious conditioning.  Sometimes seriously and sometimes less so, there have been scholars and other critics (including ex-patients) of modern psychiatry who have compared the DSM to the old “witch-hunting” texts, the classic example the Malleus Maleficarum.  Written by German Dominican friar and inquisitor Heinrich Kramer (circa 1430-1505), the widely-read treatise Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches, 1487), not only described the rituals of witchcraft but was also a manual for the identification of witches, documenting methods by which their guilt could be proven (as a prelude to execution).  Scholars now regard Malleus Maleficarum not as original but a kind of “review of the classics” and a codification of many previous works but the publication long exerted much influence on the witch trials of the early modern period.  Kramer was on sound theological and political ground because early as the tenth century the Church had published Canon Episcopi (Canon Law) in which it was made explicit witchcraft and magic were delusions and practitioners (or even believers) were suffering “possession by the Devil”.

To gain a flavour of the Malleus Maleficarum, consider the representative extract: “What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an inescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted in fair colors...The word woman is used to mean the lust of the flesh, as it is said: I have found a woman more bitter than death, and a good woman more subject to carnal lust...Women are naturally more impressionable...Women are intellectually like children...She is more carnal than a man, as is clear from her many carnal abominations...Therefore a wicked woman is by her nature quicker to waver in her faith, and consequently quicker to abjure the faith, which is the root of witchcraft...”  One does suspect copies of the Malleus Maleficarum might sit well-thumbed on the bedside tables of Talibs in Kabul and ayatollahs in Tehran.  They know the old ways are best.

The old ways are best: Malleus Maleficarum.

The comparison between Malleus Maleficarum and the DSM is the claim both are guidebooks used by an elite to label and classify nonconformity or social deviance as “abnormal” and thus to be “treated” (sometimes by incarceration).  Structuralists note one interesting aspect of this is the “imprimatur of veracity” provided by the written word, both Kramer’s text and the DSM gaining their authority from being hefty published works.  While Malleus Maleficarum faded from use, the DSM’s seven decade evolution from DSM-I (1952: 130 pages listing 106 mental disorders) to DSM-5-TR (2022: 1152 pages and 298 disorders) has been one of increasing influence to the point that, in the minds of many, it is definitive.  The “mission creep” of the DSM has attracted comment and while whether there’s now “more madness” or what there now is more readily identified and better treated can be debated, the growth of the profession also accounts for some of the spread, doctors sometimes in demarcation disputes about who gets to treat whom: With each addition to the DSM the psychiatrists get to stake their claim to another market segment and in the twenty-first century, the DSM seems as canonical a text as was Malleus Maleficarum in the sixteenth.

Nylon, 30 January, 2015.

In 2015, Nylon ran the story Lindsay Lohan had taken up witchcraft and wished to be consecrated by a coven as a white witch.  Nylon did caution the source of the story was the National Enquirer, a publication sometimes referred to as a NRS (normally reliable source) with some irony; a representative for Ms Lohan released a statement denying she practiced witchcraft.  Published continuously since 1926, since the early 2000s the National Enquirer has been a good source of Lohanic content, its coverage extending to her weight (suggestions of anorexia during “thin phase”), driving history (patchy), being stalked by the Freemasons (verified), feuds (frequent), legal issues (since resolved), family squabbles (legion), hair care (highly recommended), shoe & handbag collections (much envied) and, of course, aspiration to be admitted to a coven of witches (dubious).  

Women being burned at the stake (circa 1580), engraving by Dutch illustrator Jan Luyken (1649–1712).  Widely practiced in parts of Europe, in England, burnings at the stake tended to be restricted to those convicted of heresy, convicted witches usually hanged (if they survived the various "trials by ordeal" used to establish guilt).

The glossary of the Laws of Ælfred (circa 890) translates the Latin necromantia (demonum invocatio) as galdre or wiccecræft and in the Anglo-Saxon poem Men's Crafts, wiccræft appears to mean "skill with horses" so the OED is right to note the contested history but, in the history of the British Isles, the mention in the Laws of Ælfred of witchcraft being exclusively female activity is unique although that sense clearly endured and by the early 1600s, the feminine form was so dominant that the forms "men-witches" or "he-witches" came into use.  Warlock was never a universally accepted masculine form of witch despite the notion in modern popular culture and it’s from wicca that English ultimately gained both wizard and wicked.  Even in the sixteenth century, the implications were blurred, Reginald Scot in his The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) asserting it was synonymous in the English tongue to say either “she is a witch” or “she is a wise woman”.  In the popular imagination there's still a widespread perception witches were burned at the stake and while that was the case in many places (along with other methods of dispatch), in the English-speaking world, because witchcraft was a felony in both England and the American colonies, witches were hanged and not burned.  Witches’ bodies were burned in Scotland, although, just to be sure, they were first strangled to death.  The confusion may have arisen because there were cases of witches being burned at the stake but that was because they'd been convicted also of heresy.

Crooked Hillary Clinton (b 1947; US secretary of state 2009-2013) has never denied practicing witchcraft (digitally altered image).

The extended sense of “young woman or girl of bewitching aspect or manners” was in use by at least 1740 and although that sense has been used both admiringly (of “feminine charms) and as a warning (of the power of a seductress over men) it seems now usually positive and of “ways & means” rather than merely the Paris Hiltonesque “hot”.  It’s certainly more encouraging than the use in the Old Testament in which appears מְכַשֵּׁפָה (mekhashshepheh, in the Hebrew the feminine term for an “enchantress or sorceress”.  The word was from the root כשף (kashaph) and used to refer to those who whispered mystic formulas or cast spells, antics that attracted one of the more famous (and consequential) biblical injunctions: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” (Exodus 22:18; King James Version of the Bible (KJV, 1611)).  A similar condemnation also appears in Deuteronomy 18:10-12:

10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.

11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

The verse “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” echoed through time, the Mosaic legal decree held to command the execution of those practicing sorcery or illicit magic.  In the archaic English of the KJV, “suffer” means “allow or permit”, thus the understanding “Do not allow a sorceress to live”.  However, scripture is open to interpretation and, for thousands of years, priests, theologians (amateur & professional), lawyers and charlatans (there’s some overlap between those categories) have done exactly that and adding to the tangle is the history of variations in translation and meaning-shifts in words.  In the ancient Septuagint (a translation in Ancient Greek), the Hebrew word was translated as pharmakos (a brewer of lethal potions, drugs, or poisons) leading some scholars argue the verse targeted “dark herbalists” (ie those who literally mixed poisons) while others held this was metaphorical and still explicitly proscribed (on pain of death) supernatural sorcery.  The latter (harsher) view is more in accord with the spirit of Deuteronomy in which it was made clear all must follow the teachings in the tradition of the prophet Moses, meaning all divination and magical techniques of enquire must be eliminated on the grounds such things were “spiritual treason”.  For the ancient Israelites, spells and magical incantations were attempts to bypass God's authority by manipulating spiritual forces or a summoning of pagan deities, sorcery thus a form of idolatry that threatened the purity of the community.  Of course the commentaries have always emphasised execution of transgressors must be judicial with the accused granted due process; neither in Exodus or Deuteronomy is licence granted for vigilantism or mob justice.

The historical legacy of Exodus 22:18 was profound and lingered long in Western culture.  It was James I (1566–1625;King of England 1603-1625) who commissioned the translation still influential as the KJV and he was a religious zealot both fearful of and somewhat obsessed with the dangers in witchcraft; translating mekhashepha specifically as “witch” reinforced the secular laws of his time and on both sides of the Atlantic, European inquisitors and American Puritans alike, cited Exodus 22:18 as the primary biblical justification to hunt, torture, and execute thousands (mostly women) accused of witchcraft.  Delivered mostly by the European colonialists, scripture (often selectively quoted) spread to other continents and to this day, Akan Christians in Ghana justify praying for the death and destruction of witches and wizards of the basis of “not suffering witches to live”.  In some places where the scriptural condemnation of witches became better embedded in culture than the companion notion of "due process before punishment", mobs not infrequently assemble and kill those accused of witchcraft, parts of Africa and PNG (Papua New Guinea) especially afflicted.  In some cases the killings are opportunistic and based on other motives including "blood feuds" and economics, inconvenient wives sometimes murdered so a family can gain title to her land.      

Peter Dutton, seemingly in one of his more cheerful moods, carrying volume one (of three) of his enemies list (volume two including a number of MFWs).

In Australia, Peter Dutton (b 1970; leader of the opposition and leader of the Australian Liberal Party 2022-2025) had something of an unfortunate history with text messages (SMS, short message service) including sending one calling a journalist a “mad fucking witch”.  Unfortunately, he sent the "MFW text" to the target of his thoughts but, fortunately, the witch worked for Liberal Party supervisor Rupert Murdoch (b 1931) and thus had to cop it sweet which, with some aplomb, the witch did, even complimenting Mr Dutton for having been a minister who had made "a great contribution to government" (one way of putting things).  Mr Dutton's SMS was especially interesting because there's an extensively documented library of the links between Freemasonry and witchcraft and, despite many opportunities, Mr Dutton has never denied being a Freemason.  Whether it can be said Mr Dutton’s truly made "a great contribution to government" (examples don't readily come to mind), in coining “mad fucking witch” he certainly made a notable contribution to the political lexicon and, unlike most of what he said and did over his well-remunerated decades in public life, the phrase proved enduring, albeit as an “unintended consequence”.

In Australia, MFW (Mad Fucking Witches) is a political pressure group targeting media figures usually described as “right wing” and although the label can be misleading, those attracting the attention of the MFW generally are port of the “populist vibe”, a movement not sympathetic to the “progressive” issues though the preserve of the (again nominal) “left wing”.  The MFW approach comes from the playbook of BDS (boycott, divestment & sanctions) community and their preferred tactic since 2016 has been the “collective boycott”, a technique in which companies are pressured not to advertise on programmes or outlets that have attracted their disapproval.  So it’s an attempt at a kind of censorship but the MFW’s stated position is those using the media to advocate, support or at least “dog whistle” world views such as “sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of hate and bigotry” should not tolerated and have no right to claim the protection of the liberal concept of “free speech”.  Potential MFW supporters should note the coven's position is both men and women can be consecrated as witches and it'll be interesting to see if a kind of “anti-MFW” emerges from the  “manosphere” (a MFW enemy) as the “Mad Fucking Warlocks”.  On X (previously known as Twitter), #witches-vs-warlocks would be a battle worth following.   

MFW merchandise.  Rupert Murdoch too has feelings and must find the Tee-shirts hurtful.  Those concerned should send him an appropriate emoji.  

Presumably the MFW wouldn’t claim the quote attributed to French philosopher Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet; 1694–1778): “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” is “wrong” but, on the basis “one has to draw the line somewhere” (a dictum with a long history in “free speech” matters), would maintain it is “wrong” for corporations financially to support individuals or media outlets disseminating “hate speech”.  Actually, the quote was a paraphrase of Voltaire’s views on the principle of freedom of speech and was coined by Evelyn Beatrice Hall (1868–1956, who used the pseudonym Stephen “S.G.” Tallentyre), appearing in her book The Friends of Voltaire (1906); whether that history is enough for the coven to deny Ms Hall the status of “honorary Mad Fucking Witch” isn’t something discussed on their website (on which is merchandise available, including the “Fuck Murdoch” Tee-shirts made famous by #MeToo activist Grace Tame (b 1994 and at least a MFW fellow-traveller)).

The MFW will not be unaware of analysis suggesting at least some of the “hate spewing” commentators choose their content not out of political conviction but merely because it has proved the most lucrative and happily they’d shift to broadcasting something diametrically different if that path proved to be the “money trail”.  The outlets are in the business of producing a product (their audience) to sell (to advertisers) and if a bigger audience could be produced by running recordings of a philosopher and archbishop discussing the existence of God than what's generated by conspiracy theories and rants about this & that (immigrants, trans-people etc), that's what would be run.  However, the MFW is a coven of structural functionalists for whom motivation is irrelevant and what matters is content: “Every single advertiser who pays advertising dollars to a company which spreads dangerous anti-science rhetoric, hate speech, fake news and lies is complicit in the spread of that information … their responsibility is to ensure their money only goes to media organisations with morals and a social conscience.”  Pleasingly for pattern theorists (harder than it sounds), both Donald Trump (b 1946; POTUS 2017-2021 and since 2025) and the MFW seek to eradicate “fake news” although while some of their methods may be similar, the definitions and targets differ.  The MFW has pledged also to “rid the world of authoritarianism”, possibly with Mr Trump in the coven’s collective thoughts.

The MFW doesn't issue a “call to arms”; the coven calls witches: “To your brooms”.

Of course companies have for a long time been using either the withdrawal of advertising or the threat to do so as a weapon (sometimes deployed with subtlety, sometimes not) to influence “coverage of products” and governments have not been above directing their advertising to publications thought “sympathetic”.  There are terms for those methods but the MFW is an interesting case-study of the way blogs, social media and such have created a kind of “equivalency” between the new “micro-operations” and media outlets with storied histories in some cases dating back centuries.  What makes the MFW campaign(s) structurally different is they’re often focused on the “old media” of radio and terrestrial television, technologies possible only because they are licenced (by governments) exclusively to use a publicly-owned resource (the airwaves) and conditions are imposed on those so licenced, including the general concept of “responsible” use; many individuals and some institutions have views on the parameters of “responsible” (some even codifying things) and the MFW’s strident position is just one of many.  One “codified” document in Australia is commercial radio’s 31-page Code of Practice, a work highly-detailed, frequently ignored and often interpreted on the basis of: “Can we get away with it?”  The MFW have noted this and claim they exist only because the outlets refuse to “regulate themselves” and “regulators failing to discharge their statutory duties”.  Although there is something of the now familiar “agree with us or we’ll cancel you” approach about the MFW, many wish them success, not because they find their targets a political threat but because they’re such ghastly vulgarians. 

Witches and ditches

Witch of the Ditch on broomstick.

Early Reader’s paperback edition of the children's book The Witch of the Ditch by by Steven Butler, illustrated by Nigel Baines.  The early reader series uses a hybrid format in being “stepping stones” designed for children transitioning from picture books to text, the method being associative (illustrations the young reader can identify orally, presented alongside the relevant written word(s)). Appropriately deconstructed, the book is a tale of political conflict, triggered when one witch (Hag of the Crag) moves in next door to another (Witch of the Ditch).  As is notorious, there is in every town room only for one witch so things are not going to go well.  Politicians may be tempted to mine The Witch of the Ditch in the quest for new 3WSs (three word slogans) because that's how political discourse is now done and they’ll find encouraging the publisher’s blurb noting the title is for a “Reading age: 5-7 years”, about the level of comprehension they appear to think most voters have attained.

Ditch Witch at work.

Described by the manufacturer as “The fastest way to drill”, CEA’s Ditch Witch JT21 replaces the previous JT20, the design improvements said to have been “engineered with direct input from contractors and drillers in the field.”  Drills of all types (from the smallest able to put holes in nano-sized objects to the largest used to carve through solid granite when excavating tunnels) are arranged in classes and CEA claim the JT21 “sets a new benchmark for performance, speed, and control in compact drilling”, its “35% faster carriage speed” able to operate at a “blazing 215 feet (66 metres) per minute”, making it “the fastest drill in its class”.  One measure likely novel to those familiar with HP (horsepower) in other contexts is the concept of DHP (downhole horsepower), a measure of the specific efficiency delivered at the critical point (the drill bit); in that it’s analogous with RWHP (rear-wheel horsepower), the traditional metric used by dynamometers quantifying power and a measure more indicative of performance potential than GHP (gross horsepower, what a engine generates in its raw configuration) or NHP (net horsepower, measured with an engine’s accessories attached).  Certainly the Ditch Witch’s stated ratings (21,000 lbs of pullback, 20,000 lbs of thrust, and 2,250 ft-lbs of torque) sound impressive.  The JT21 is also a most modern machine, featuring VAM (Virtually Assisted Make-up, a software-driven pipe handling apparatus that renders redundant floats or sensors).  Pleasingly for those brought up on video games, the JT21 is controlled by a multimode joystick and LCD (liquid crystal display) interface.

Digging a better trench.

Winston Churchill inspecting the progress of project White Rabbit No, 6, Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire, England, November 1941.

In “Ditch Witch” CEA came up with a catchy name, one that would have appealed to word-nerd Winston Churchill (1875-1965; UK prime-minister 1940-1945 & 1951-1955), had there not been a need for secrecy.  The World War II (1939-1945) era White Rabbit No. 6 was an “trench digging” engineering project co-ordinated by the British Admiralty although, as a security measure, the official code-name was changed to “Cultivator No. 6” to make it sound less mysterious and more like just another a piece of agricultural equipment.  It was a military trench-digging machine, an example of the adage “generals are always preparing to fight the last war” and although designed exclusively for army use on (and at least partially under) land, it came under the auspices of the RN (Royal Navy) because it was one of the many “good ideas” from the brain of Churchill who, between the outbreak of war in 1939 and his assumption of the premiership some months later, served as First Lord of the Admiralty (the RN’s political head).  Trenches and artillery had been the two dominant features of World War I (1914-1918) and Churchill had spent some months (1915-1916) in one of the former under fire from the latter while commanding a battalion; before the implications of mechanization and the German’s Blitzkrieg (lightning war) tactics were apparent, he assumed the new war in France would unfold something like the old, thus the interest in something which would “revolutionize trench warfare”.

Clipart of sexy Halloween witches (PNG (portable network graphics) format, transparent, 300 DPI (dots-per-inch)) can be downloaded.

Trench warfare however wasn’t repeated so White Rabbit No.6 was soon realized to be already obsolete so the project was abandoned and although the most fully developed of the prototypes did perform according to the design parameters, whether it would have been effective remains doubtful; remarkably, work on these things wasn’t wholly abandoned until 1942.  The “White Rabbit” project codes came from Churchill’s sense of humor, his ideas flowing, as he said: “like rabbits I pull from my hat” and he supported many, some of which were of great military value while others, like the “floating runways” (artificial icebergs made with a mixture of shards of timber & frozen water), were quixotic.  The gestation of the White Rabbit was also an echo of World War I when, in an earlier incarnation as First Lord, Churchill had instructed the Admiralty to begin development of the first “tank”.  The word “tank” was adopted to create the impression the project was about “water tanks” and while it may seem strange to put admirals in charge of what was so obviously a “land weapon”, it was the navy that possessed the expertise in fabricating similar devices (the gun turrets used on warships) and the boat-sized engines that would be used to propel them.

Bronwyn Bishop (b 1942, left), Sophie Mirabella (b 1968) and Tony Abbott (right) at the infamous “Ditch the Witch” protest, 2011.

Tony Abbott (b 1957; Prime Minister of Australia 2013-2015) rarely saw a 3WS he didn’t like and, in 2011, apparently had no compunction in being photographed in front of a placard with the words “Ditch the Witch”, the occasion a “No Carbon Tax” protest, called after Julia Gillard (b 1961; Prime Minister of Australia 2010-2013) had announced such a tax would be imposed, despite having earlier promised there’d be no such tax.  Clearly it must have been a "non-core promise", another Australian contribution to political jargon.  Also displaying the depth of the Australian linguistic imagination (if not grasp of the rules of punctuation) was one reading “Juliar….Bob Browns [sic] Bitch”.  The construct of Juliar was Ju(lia) + liar (alluding to the broken promise) and “Bitch” a reference to the allegation her government was too inclined to be influenced by the Green Party, then led by Dr Bob Brown (b 1944; senator for Tasmania (Australian Greens) 1996-2012, Green party leader 2005-2015).  “Bitch” was also a slur, a snide comment on Dr Brown’s homosexuality.

Tony Abbott (b 1957; Prime Minister of Australia 2013-2015) agitprop.

Mr Abbott's combination of relentless negativity and repetition of 3WSs (three word slogans) contributed to his resounding victory in the 2013 general election although, in office, the results were mixed and it ended badly.  Recently resurrected as the Liberal Party's federal president (the institution's third “Lazerus with a triple bypass” after Sir Robert Menzies (1894–1978; Prime Minister of Australia 1939-1941 & 1949-1966) and John Howard (b 1939; Prime Minister of Australia 1996-2007)), Mr Abbott unquestionably was one of history's most effective leaders of the opposition but as Roy Jenkins (1920–2003) remarked of Lord Randolph Churchill (1849–1895):  “He was essentially a opposition politician and behaved as such even when in government”.  With his long experience in the cabinets of two of the UK's more faction-ridden post-war Labour governments, of such matters, Jenkins was a fair judge.  It was Lord Randolph who made famous the dictum “The duty of an opposition is to oppose” but he proved was sometime neglectful in adhering to the obvious corollary defining the role of a government.  When in opposition, Mr Abbott followed the dictum with an unmatched muscular efficiency (during all those years he trained to be ordained a priest, the monsignors drummed into him the Catholic Church's world view (“thou shalt not”)) and even after he elected not to follow the calling, the lesson never departed his soul.  Mr Abbott as federal president of the party that axed him from the leadership before he'd completed a single term will be watched with interest by many, dread by some and quiet terror by those clinging to marginal seals (the latter now a big number).  In the pre-penicillin age, Lord Randolph died a dreadful death and whether Mr Abbott proves the Liberal Party's political penicillin will be determined by the patient's fate.             

“Witch Doctor” was  for several successful seasons campaigned in drag racing by Dr Keith Garner (b 1935), a Cherokee, Iowa-based physician.

A 1970 Ford Torino Cobra, it was ordered from the factory explicitly configured to optimize performance over quarter-mile (402 metres) runs: 429 cubic inch (7.0 litre) Super Cobra Jet V8 (J-code), C6 automatic transmission & 3.91 Drag Pack 9 inch rear end (V code).  The styling cues were “borrowed” by Ford Australia for the two-door hardtop version of the Falcon (XA, XB & XC, 1972-1979), the lines proving aerodynamically efficient on even the fastest circuits.  Unfortunately, the second generation Torino (1970-1971), while untroubled on drag strips where speeds didn’t exceed 125 mph (200 km/h), on the big NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) ovals where 200 mph (320 km/h) routinely was approached, the shape induced unexpectedly high drag, despite looking sleeker than its slab-sided predecessor (1968-1969); where possible, racing teams opted to run the old body.

In this, Ford was a victim of circumstances.  The plan had be to produce a run of 1970 Torinos with aerodynamics optimized for the ovals (as had been done with the previous generation (the 1969 Torino Talladega and corporate stablemate Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II) and three prototypes were built but the NASCAR regulators, not best-pleased their series for "showroom stock cars" (although it was a long time since the teams had used anything of the kind) was being "gamed" by manufacturers, changed the rules, rendering the so called "aero cars" uncompetitive by limiting them to a 305 cubic inch (5.0 litre) engine displacement while allowing the others to use the full 430 (7.0).  Visually, although highly effective, the modifications appearing on the Talladega were quite modest (as were those applied in 1969 on the Dodge Charger 500 that triggered the "aero wars") and had the manufacturers continued to exercise restraint and limit the changes to some subtle "tweaks", NASCAR might have allowed the fun to continue.  However, after the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona and 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird appeared with extravagant appendages front and rear (the elevated rear wings literally could be used to hang washing out to dry), the rule-makers cracked down, ending the "aero wars".        

Preaching to the converted: One-time seminarian Mr Abbott gets the message across.

Standing with Mr Abbott, Liberal Party luminaries Bronwyn Bishop and Sophie Mirabella presumably regarded the words “witch” & “bitch” as “political” rather than “sexist”.  That view wasn’t shared by Ms Gillard who later remarked: “I wasn't shocked that some people had those sentiments…” but was, “…shocked that it was so visibly called forth into the public debate and that it didn't get the sort of odium from mainstream commentators that it should have.”  The signage also rated a mention in her strident “misogyny speech”, delivered in the parliament on 9 October 2012 as a reaction then opposition leader Mr Abbott accusing her of sexism.  Actually, she “had a bit of previous” with sexism (notably the “mincing poodle” affair) but the speech was a good performance and around the planet it went viral.  At the time of the “Ditch the Witch” rally, Ms Gillard of course received the expected support from her ALP (Australian Labor Party) party colleagues although Ms Bishop and Ms Mirabella seem to have been unmoved.  One at the time vocal in her condemnation of the signage was Penny Wong (b 1968), then serving in the Gillard cabinet and, as a woman, she would be expected to be sensitive to hints of misogyny.  Gillard of course had only that to resort to when weaponizing “an identity” whereas Wong could play (1) “the woman card”, (2) the “race card” (being of part-Asian extraction) or “the gay card” (being a lesbian).  Still her support must have been appreciated as gesture of feminist solidarity.  Unfortunately, Gillard’s problems got worse and the rest of the country noticed; so did her party colleagues and, in a leadership spill in June 2013, she lost the leadership, Ms Wong among those voting for the alternative.  Feminist solidarity goes only so far when there’s the threat of a big pay cut and the loss of perks.

Briefly in 2026, one of the few pleasures to be see when waiting to catching one's bus in Melbourne.

Genuinely a piece of Australian political history, the “Ditch the Witch” 3WS in 2026 made an unexpected return the streets of Melbourne, appearing on the sides of trucks trundling through the suburbs.  The target this time was Jacinta Allan (b 1973; premier of Victoria since 2023), the lucky recipient of the poisoned chalice of the state’s premiership, handed to her after the retirement of the long-serving Daniel Andrews (b 1972), premier of Victoria 2014-2023.  Several political junkies have been compiling reports with calculations attempting to work out just how much public money has been squandered / stolen / misappropriated / wasted (the terms vary with the author) during the life of the Andrews/Allan government.  While not all the various “incidents” suggest dishonesty (some being mere incompetence), the alleged losses variously are in the thousands, millions or billions.  Ms Allan has made little attempt to address substantive matters (such as the rising state debt) but was most vociferous in her objection to the revival of the “Ditch the Witch” 3WS with her scowling visage appended; within 48 hours the offending images had been banished from the streets although whether that was achieved with threats, persuasion or the premier casting a spell isn’t certain.  In an indication her government had a focus on “high priority issues”, it was announced Aus$134,000 (US$95,000) had been allocated to erect a bronze statue of Mr Andrews.

Despite the impression created by popular culture (especially film & television), the “witch = female, warlock = male” thing is quite modern and thus historically misleading; Ms Gillard and Ms Allan are clearly very modern, thus their equating “witch” with “woman” and its use as a slur as sexism.  For most of the history of the English language, a “witch” could be male or female although the record does suggest women were more often accused of witchcraft, while “warlock” often was not applied to male witches.  In the Old English (certainly before circa 1000), the most common forms were wicca (male practitioner of witchcraft) and wicce (female practitioner) both from the same Germanic root; by the late Middle English (and after the Norman Conquest (1066), gradually the forms merged in pronunciation, the spelling shifting to reflect this, “witch” coming to denote either sex.  That’s why there came to be no need for a separate masculine noun.

Macbeth and the three witches (1760), oil on canvas by Francesco Zuccarelli (1702-1788).  Completed during the artist's “first English period” (1752-1762), historians believe this to be the first European painting depicting theatrical characters in a landscape and in From Rococo to Revolution: Major Trends in Eighteenth-Century Painting (1966), English art historian Sir Michael Levey (1927–2008; director of the National Gallery 1973-1986) notes the work as a fine example of “the beginnings of the Neo-Gothic under the influence of the theory of the sublime.”  When writing The Tragedy of Macbeth (Macbeth, circa 1606) William Shakespeare (1564–1616) had no doubts witches were women.

In the Laws of Ælfred, witchcraft explicitly was singled out as a woman's craft, the practitioners of which were not welcome to live among the Western Saxons but that can’t have been persuasive and it’s clear from later legal and theological writings (fields in which there was long cross-fertilization) that men were a capable as women of practicing witchcraft (the English Witchcraft Act (1604) refers only to “any person”).  Those accused (and sometimes executed) overwhelmingly were women and the numbers in Europe were striking (albeit with wide regional variations), the margin over decades sometimes as skewed as 90-10%.  Of course these are raw numbers from the surviving historic record so while there’s (probably not unreasonably) now the perception women disproportionately were targeted for prosecution, it’s not impossible there simply were more women than men practicing witchcraft.  Popular culture is just as divergent from history in the evolution of “warlock”.  Warlock was from the Old English wǣrloga (oath-breaker; traitor; deceiver) and was related to the notion of “belie one's pledge” rather than magic spells but because of the Biblical association of “deceiver” with Satan, in certain medieval religious texts, wǣrloga was used to mean “the Devil”.

Witches and Witchcraft in Victorian Britain by Emma Woodhouse is scheduled for publication in April 2027.  In Jane Austen's (1775-1817) novel Emma (1815), Emma Woodhouse was the titular protagonist of almost 21, described by the author as “a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like.”

The origin of “warlock” being equated with “man practising witchcraft” seems to be in early sixteenth century Scots English but even there it was never the standard form with the church and court records of the time listing men so accused as “witches”, as was the case in England and Wales.  Charmingly, literary historians trace the emergence of “warlock” meaning “a male witch” to the rise of Gothic novel, a form which enjoyed a spike in popularity between the 1760s and 1820s; witches were mentioned in Gothic novel and Warlocks were not but from those beginnings came the “ghost” & “horror” genres and historians have concluded the Victorian writers, mining the occult, folklore, medievalism, picked-up “warlock” for no better reason than it sounded archaic and had the “picturesque” quality novelists like.  From this improbable beginning, “warlock” became vested with an almost wholly bogus “history” readers allowing themselves to be convinced stretched back a thousand years or more.  Victorian novels were however a niche and what’s thought most to have reinforced the popular perception was twentieth century cinema, an industry which cemented the witch/warlock dichotomy, adhered to in fantasy fiction, role-playing games, comics and popular culture of all forms.

Nipple

Nipple (pronounced nip-uhl)

(1) In anatomy, the small, conical projection near the center of the areola of each mammary gland (breast); also called mamilla, papilla or teat.  In females, the nipple contains the outlets of the milk ducts.

(2) Something resembling (often in scaled-up form) a female’s nipple, as the mouthpiece of a nursing bottle or pacifier (in some places an informal word for a pacifier).

(3) Any device resembling a nipple in shape or function.

(4) A mechanical device through which liquids or gases can be passed in a regulated manner; as grease nipple a small drilled bush, usually screwed into a bearing (or other component needing periodic replenishment of a greasing agent) through which grease is introduced.

(5) In plumbing & gas-fitting, a short piece of pipe with threads on each end, used for joining valves.

(6) Any small physical protrusion on an automotive or machine part or any other part that fits into a groove on another part (now rare).

(7) In computer (hardware) slang, the pointing device in the centre of the keyboard of certain laptops, partially fulfilling the functionality of a mouse, trackball or track-pad (although some (male) users insist it is called “the clit”).

(8) In pre-modern ballistics, a perforated segment that fits into part of the breech of a muzzle-loading gun, on which the percussion cap is fixed.

(9) In the design of bicycles, an internally threaded piece which holds a bicycle spoke in place on the rim.

(10) To fit (a baby's bottle etc) with a nipple (archaic).

(11) To give one's nipple to (a baby) to allow breastfeeding (archaic).

1520–1530: From the Middle English nipple, from the earlier neble, nibble, nible & nepil (all of which may be derived from nib & neb (tip; point).  The Old English nypel (elephant’s trunk) was formed analogously as “a protuberance from one's neb”.  The late twelfth century pap & pappe (nipple of a woman's breast) was first attested in Northern and Midlands writing, probably from a Scandinavian source (there’s no record in the Old Norse but there was the dialectal Swedish pappe), from the primitive Indo-European imitative root pap- (to swell), the source also of the Latin papilla (nipple) which may have influenced the English papula (a swelling, pimple) and the Lithuanian papas (nipple).  The spellings neple, nypil, nyppell, neapel, neaple, neble and all obsolete.  Nipple is a noun & verb, nippling is a verb and nippleless & nippled are adjectives; the noun plural is nipples.

One extinct verb which, perhaps surprisingly, wasn’t revived even after it became apparent trends of use on the internet suggested it might be helpful, was expapillate (bare the breasts to the nipples), identified by the outstandingly good Online Etymology Dictionary as an entry in an early English "dictionary", published in eleven editions between 1623 and the 1650s.  The book was neither a prescriptive or descriptive work encompassing the whole language but was described as “An Interpreter of Hard English Words”, an approach others later took including Wilfred Funk (1883–1965) in his Word Origins and Their Romantic Stories (1950), the idea being to focus on the less known or more obscure.  The construct of expapillate was ex- + papillate.  The ex- prefix was from the Middle English, from words borrowed from the Middle French, from the Latin ex (out of, from), from the primitive Indo-European eǵ- & eǵs- (out).  It was cognate with the Ancient Greek ἐξ (ex) (out of, from), the Transalpine Gaulish ex- (out), the Old Irish ess- (out), the Old Church Slavonic изъ (izŭ) (out) & the Russian из (iz) (from, out of).  The “x” in “ex-“, sometimes is elided before certain constants, reduced to e- (eg ejaculate).  The Latin papillate was the vocative masculine singular of papillātus (having nipples or buds; shaped like a nipple or bud) and was used in English as a transitive verb (to cover with papillae) and intransitive verb (to take the form of a papilla, or of papillae).

Volkswagen Type 2 “splitties”: Early “flasher-free” version (1950-1960) which used semaphore signals (trafficators) (left), one from the 1955-1963 with “bullets” or “nipples” (centre) and a late-build one with “waffles” or “fisheyes”.   

The Volkswagen Type 2 (sometimes referred to generically as “Microbus” or “Kombi” although those were specific variants) played a role in post-war culture on both sides of the Atlantic and the most desirable of the classic, early “split screen” (1950–1967 (and built in Brazil 1953–1975)) models such as the 21 & 23 window “Sambas” have become a cult and in the bubble market which inflated in the immediate post-pandemic period, some restored examples sold at auction for over US$200,000.    The VW originality police are no less exacting than those who examine Ferraris, Jaguars or Corvettes and, clipboards in hand, will mark-down a vehicle presented for judging if a 1957 Kombi is presented with clamps from a 1959 Microbus having been used.  The details on the early Type 2s also have their own vocabulary one example being the front turn-indicators.  Except for some built for export (with small amber bulbs fitted within the headlight buckets), the early Type 2s did not have flashing indicators, relying on mechanical semaphore signals (better known as “trafficators”); these were phased out between 1955-1960.  That they remained in use until then was not unique to Volkswagen, in England, Rolls-Royce used them until 1959 and BMC (British Motor Corporation) fitted their last to the Morris Minor (1948-1971) in 1971 and interesting contrast with the East German Trabant (better remembered as the “Trabi” or “Trabbi”) that had amber units from its introduction.  The small, protruding, conical indicators first appeared in 1955 and are usually called “bullets” although, inevitably, the nickname “nipples” soon circulated.  The larger, flatter indicators were used from 1963 until production of the “split screen” Type 2s ended in 1967; they’re known as “waffles” or “fisheyes”.

In 1974, The British Medical Journal (BMJ) used the term "guitar nipple" to describe "the irritation to the breast that can occur from the pressure of the guitar against the body."  That was indicative of the trend in the English-speaking world for newly-identified (and sometimes novel) conditions to be constructed with English elements, rather than the Latin historically used.  In the same spirit, two years later a contributor to the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) was more imaginative still, coining "hot pants syndrome" when documenting cases in which a burn to the skin had been induced by a patient carrying a battery-powered transistor radio in the pocket of their trousers.  There was also in 1978 the NEJM's (New England Journal of Medicine) "disco digit" which referred to "a sore or infected finger caused by too much finger snapping while dancing."    

Jaguar tool kit supplied with 1966 E-Type (XKE, 1961-1974).  The grease gun (left) was used to force grease into various components through grease nipples.  This wauntil recent decades a regular part of automobile maintenance and remains an essential part of the servicing schedules of heavy vehicles and machinery.

Until the 1970s, it was common for cars to need periodic “greasing” of certain components, a process which involved attaching a “grease gun” to a “grease nipple” which permanently was mounted on the relevant part; manually, the gun (usually a type of plunger) was used to force grease through the nipple.  This was undertaken either by owners, chauffeurs or mechanics at service stations who routinely would perform an “oil and grease” which included (all or some of): changing the engine, gearbox & differential oil, replacing the filter(s) and greasing all required grease points.  On more expensive vehicles, “one-shot lubrication” systems (known also as CLS (centralized lubrication systems) & ALS (automated lubrication systems)) were introduced during the 1920s, the technology adapted from the hardware used in aviation and marine engineering.  Although some attempts were made to create wholly automated systems, the most widely used were those which incorporated a foot pump for the driver to press at specified intervals; this action forced grease from a central reservoir to the required points.  Being a sealed system, this meant that nowhere in the system were grease nipples required (although some often still were included in components which demanded less frequent attention or were of a design which made their inclusion in the CLS plumbing too difficult.  ALS systems remain common in many places including heavy machinery, ships and the industrial plant used in factories, power plants etc.

The standard grease nipple used on the Jaguar E-Type (XKE) (left) and a diagram with a legend listing the E-Type's oil, brake fluid, transmission fluid and grease nipple locations.  The grease nipples are indicated by the obelus (†).  In automobiles, by the 1970s the need for multiple grease points or one-shot lubrication had begun to be eliminated (although some older designs maintained the legacy for decades) as advances in metallurgy and lubrication technology permitted the development of sealed, maintenance-free components which are “packed with grease" and thus “lubricated for life”.  However, for heavy-duty machines such as trucks and earth-moving equipment operating in adverse conditions, there are often still components demanding regular greasing and thus grease nipples are still a thing.

Also a thing is the “nipple orgasm”, at least for those for whom a nipple is a “hardwired erogenous zone” responsive to stimulation; that's a sub-set of the population and there are probably no reliable estimates of the prevalence.  Although in humans orgasms are typically thought an ejaculative, vaginal or clitoral phenomenon, sexologists list more than a dozen types, varying in instance or intensity based on the individual, the circumstances and sensitivity to stimulation.  When warming to the topic, these specialists will also discuss the details of “energetic orgasms” (which can, without physical touch, be triggered by meditation or fantasy) and “sleep orgasms”, said to have been experienced by an “estimated” 37% of women and 83% of men.  Quite how those numbers were obtained isn’t clear but helpfully, in 2011, New Jersey-based neuroscientist, psychotherapist & sex therapist Dr Nan Wise (b 1967) undertook a study to reveal how nipple stimulation affects the brain.  What Dr Wise wanted to build on was the existing understanding “…the clitoris, vagina and cervix are mapped on the genital sensory cortex”, something which sits between the brain’s two hemispheres and which she labels “hedonistic pleasure zone” or, more illustratively “the crotch of the brain”.

What Dr Wise did was have the study’s subjects stimulated with various mental fantasies while in an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine, allowing her team to observe how distinct parts of the brain responded to various experiences.  The results were generally in line with expectations except that nipple stimulation proved an outlier.  While her hypothesis had been there would have been activity in the brain region associated with chest sensation (the theory being nipple orgasms might occur because stimulation of the organ releases oxytocin, a hormone that can cause uterine contractions, potentially leading to vaginal orgasm), instead it was found nipple stimulation activated the genital sensory cortex itself, leading Dr Wise to conclude: “The nipples are a hardwired erogenous zone, like the genitals, when nipples are stimulated, the brain gets activated, and regions processing the sensation communicate with those responsible for pleasure.”  This tied in with one of the accepted dictums in neuroscience: “neurons that fire together wire together” and the study’s findings do seem to suggest it is plausible there exists a neural pathway between the nipples and the genitals.  Sexologists however caution individual responses will vary and techniques which produce pleasing results for one will induce no response in others.  So, YMMV (your mileage many vary) and the sexologists recommend experimentation.

The SKIMS Nipple Bra

Wearing it well: Kim Kardashian in SKIMS "nipple bra"

The admirable (and much admired) Kim Kardashian (b 1980) in October 2023 announced the latest addition to her SKIMS product line: a bra with “built in” nipples, designed to be prominent enough obviously to protrude through clothing.  Said to offer the “ultimate shock factor” (although after the shocks of the last decade-odd, some of which those associated with Kardashian clan have instigated, that may be hyperbolic) the viewer response suggested many weren’t certain whether product was real or a gimmick designed to attract publicity.  It certainly attracted publicity but turned out to be real (with SKIMS part number).  Even if the concept wasn't as “innovative” as claimed, the promotional approach in the video certainly was, the spin being that if women can don a bra to emulate one of the more pleasing consequences of cold weather, the psychological effect might be they’ll be less inclined to turn on (or up) the air-conditioner, thus reducing energy use, thereby lowering carbon emissions, meaning a lesser contribution to the concentration of atmospheric CO₂ (and other greenhouse gasses) which causes accelerated climate change including higher temperatures.  That seems to be drawing a long bow but doubtlessly somewhere there will be published research which can be spun to support (or at least not disprove) each of the steps in the internal Kardashian logic.  It was certainly an example of the way commerce is attempting to monetize concerns about climate change.  

As Ms Kardashian put it: “The earth’s temperature is getting hotter and hotter. Sea levels are rising. The ice sheets are shrinking. I’m no scientist, but I believe everyone can do their skillset to do their part.  That’s why I’m introducing a brand-new bra with a built-in nipple so matter how hot it is, you’ll always look cold.  Some days are hard but these nipples are harder. And unlike the icebergs, these aren’t going anywhere.”  The bra was said to be available in six colors with a stated “10% of sales” (the exact math of that calculation not disclosed) to be a “one off donation” to 1% for the Planet (a multi-national collective of businesses pledged to gifting at least 1% of their annual revenue to “environmental causes”).  So it sounded like a real product with a real part-number (not then listed) but there were those who thought the release date being Halloween (October 31) might suggest it might not be wholly serious.  Even had it not been real, it would have been a good case-study for students of such things learning the craft of the promotional video clip, the only opportunity missed being Ms Kardashian should first have appeared in a scientist's white lab coat, peeling it off as she spoke the words "I'm no scientist".  The part-number's later appearance in the catalogue verified the availability.

Kylie Jenner (b 1997), Met Gala 2026, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, May 2026.

Keeping it in the family, Kylie Jenner’s outfit for the Met Gala 2026 featured a bodice with “built-in nipples”; unfortunately the method of construction wasn’t disclosed but the consensus was the placement was “perfect” although the scale may suggest some artistic license for effect.  Fashion critics watch the Met Gala with great interest and their analysis was the concept of the piece was of a “…gown being slipped off, revealing the bodice beneath”, Ms Jenner thus captured “…in the process of undressing” as it were.  It was a playful idea and though such things are no longer able to shock, genuinely it was original and should be commended.  The event's “dress code” for 2026 was “fashion is art” though at the Met Gala it's more “suggested theme” than enforced code and designers have always interpreted things liberally.  While it could be argued Ms Jenner’s ensemble was more artifice than art, nobody seemed to mind and she wore it well.

Skims Ultimate Pierced Nipple Push-up Bra.

Of course, for such gowns to work (and that really is the correct expression), it relies on the wearer's nipples having appropriate fittings and these can be real (as body-piercings) or faux (attached with an adhesive or clamping device, the latter on the model of “clip-on” earrings).  However, what the use of light-weight fabrics should make possible is the material's attachment directly to the nipples with either a transparent surgical-grade glue or strategically placed double-sided tape ("boob-tape" or "tit-tape" in the jargon) but some of the effect would be lost because of the extent of the surface area of skin such adhesives would require.  More to the point, were it not done with genuine fittings (piercings or clamed-on), some of the “edginess” would be lost and it was this vibe Skims picked up on in the promotional video for “The Ultimate Pierced Nipple Push-up Bra”.  The tag line was: “Our sexiest bra gets even hotter with a faux nipple piercing design so you can get the ‘Ooo’ without the ouch!” and there’s no reason why, for certain events (if not the street), a Mugleresque gown couldn’t be hung from the bra’s fittings.  Done well, it could look good although Ms Jain likely would remain unimpressed.

Skims promotional video: “The Ultimate Pierced Nipple Push-up Bra”.    

The concept of "built-in nipples" is not a new idea.  In the early 1970s, several manufacturers advertised a line of bras with cups in a sheer fabric which offered coverage and support (within a limited mass range) but clung to the nipples' definition, the most celebrated being those of Austrian-born Rudolf "Rudi" Gernreich (1922–1985), remembered as the "designer" of the "monokini" (ie a bikini supplied without the top part).  This approach was for those who wanted to display the profile of their own nipples.  The "Nipple Bra" offered enhanced engineering was the ancestor of the SKIMS bra in that rather than using, as Herr Gernreich did, the human body's "built-in" nipples, it provided some.

The 1970s: Rudi's sheer bra (left & right) and the original Nipple Bra.

The pitch all those decades ago was aimed at those who wanted to look “provocative” and in 1975 to achieve that the “Nipple Bra” cost US$20 (US$114.42 adjusted for 2023) so Ms Kardashian setting her price at US$120.00 seems not unreasonable.  The somewhat obtuse contribution to averting climate change aside, reaction to the product included the observation the bra will provide permanently “perfectly aligned nipples”, something not always achieved by the real things because, like most body parts, between left and right, there’s often some variation in size, shape, direction or distance from the ground.  Like many aspects of structural engineering, “perfect alignment” is achieved often with slight adjustments to variables like strap length.

Rudi not required: Lindsay Lohan displays perfect alignment, Venice Beach, Los Angeles, California, 2011.

In the United States, patent law exists to protect inventions, processes, and methods rather than abstract ideas and the general criteria (interpreted with some latitude) for eligibility is that an invention should be novel, non-obvious, and useful.  What does qualify is the implementation or embodiment of an idea in a tangible form so while a mere thought or concept can't be patented, a specific application or embodiment of that idea can be and this includes a new product, process, machine, or composition of matter.  Within all that, patents can be granted to cover improvements made to existing inventions.  Whether SKIMS have applied for or been granted a patent isn't clear but several for products in this vein have been granted over the last 50-odd years.  On 24 August 1976 Mr Jakob E. Schmidt of Charlestown, Indiana was granted U.S. patent #3976083 (Brassiere Having Simulated Nipples) as well as #4241737 & #4127128 covering “Brassiere Having Simulated Nipples and Attachable-Detachable Nipple Simulators”.

Conceptual drawing supplied with application for patent #3976083 (Brassiere Having Simulated Nipples), granted 24 August 1976.  The patent expired 24 August 1993.

The abstract filed with the application for #3976083 included: A brassiere is disclosed having cups which are provided with a nipple-like protuberance simulating the bulge of a natural nipple. The nipple-like bulge or protuberance may be a built-in component of the brassiere, usually situated under the fabric of the cup; a component which is permanently attached to the external surface of the brassiere cop; or an individual structure which may be attached to or detached from the brassiere cup as will, by means of several linkage and attachment mechanisms.  Simulated nipples for a brassiere would offer an acceptable compromise for ladies who do not wish to go without a brassiere and a welcome release from the subconscious effects of the suppression brought on by wearing brassieres of the types variously available, which obliterate the nipple.  That’s informative but Ms Kardashian might have phrased things in a more "Tik-Tok friendly" way. 

A nipple patch (left), the nipple patch writ large to function as a special-purpose bra (centre) and the advertising concept (right) which could be used by the manufacturers of either the "nipple bra" or the "nipple patch".  All that would be required is transposing the photographs, depending on whether the object was to display or conceal.

However, while one niche market will like the idea of being “so provocative”, there are others who find the sight of their own nipples “too provocative” and for this niche, there are ranges of products which offer coverage and concealment, smoothing away any suggestion of a nipple with patches which can be worn under bras with cups of even the most sheer fabric.  Self-adhesive (using a skin-friendly temporary glue), they can also be used without a bra and the same technology has been adapted to larger-scale units which actually function as a bra.  Marketed as being ideal to be used when wearing “backless” dresses or tops, they’re also said to be easier to use than the “fashion tape” (better known in the industry as “booby tape” or “tit tape”), especially if being self-applied.  Helpfully, if one changes one’s mind after having smoothed away the nipples, stick-on nipples are available in a range of styles and colors.

Piece from Miguel Castro Freitas’s “Stardust Aphrodite” collection for Mugler, Paris Fashion Week, October. 2025.

Miguel Castro Freitas’s (b 1980) first collection for Mugler was called “Stardust Aphrodite” and the designer described the pieces as “a trilogy of glorified clichés”, the three elements being (1) oversize and bulky, with big fluffy fabrics or shoulder pads, (2) severely tailored with extreme hourglass figures or (3) lightweight, sheer dresses; critics detected some overlap in the use of the motifs.  Although there were a number of nods to Mugler’s historic use of materials in bulk for dramatic effect, the collection otherwise tended to the “less”, one eye catching piece a gown with sparkly silver stars, its straps hung from bare-breasted nipple piercings.  To re-assure those whose toes had curled, critics noted that one was made from “a very lightweight fabric”.  The technique had be seen before, a “nipple grown” the best-remembered thing from the catwalk from one of Mugler’s shows in 1998 and this year’s model was an acknowledged homage but apart from that, it certainly was on-theme, Victoria’s Secret unlikely to see much business generated from those taken with Stardust Aphrodite.

A fragment from Fashion Feed’s take on Paris Fashion Week, 2025.

Of course the point of the catwalk is it makes it possible to see a garment in motion, interacting with the body.  That can be transformative: an outfit that on a hanger or mannequin seemed bland or lifeless can, when worn by a strutting model, come alive although equally, one which seemed admirable when static might reveal flaws of design or in construction once on the move.  Had the already infamous “nipple-piercing gown” been assessed purely on the technical criteria usually applied it would have been judged a success because the suspended sparkly chiffon flowed and swished as the designer knew it would but that achievement wasn’t much commented upon because the usual factions quickly were posting, the l'art pour l'art (art for art's sake) crowd calling the piece “an artistic vision” and dismissing criticism as the unwanted intrusion of a resurgent “purity culture” while those who disapproved called it “inappropriate” and yet another example of the way women’s bodies are exploited for the benefit of the “male gaze”.

One perhaps daring observation was that despite “many of the biggest names in women’s fashion being gay men… their designs often over-sexualise women instead of empowering them.”  Quite how much of the collective energy of gay men over the years been devoted to empowering women isn't known but Indian fashion commentator Pranjal Jain (b 2001) seemed to speak for her faction by adding that having a model parade “…a topless dress down the runway” and presenting it homage to the original of a quarter-century earlier was absurd because in the particular social & political context of the late 1990s such a dress could be understood as something “sensuous and provocative” but in 2025, “…what the fuck was the topless dress doing next to structured blazers and mini dresses?  I can tell you, the dress was a social media stunt engineered for virality.  Yet again, a man using a woman’s body for shock value.”  “Here”, she concluded, “is a perfect example of how fashion is political and historical, because context matters.”  As it has been for centuries, the critical deconstruction of frocks remains a serious matter.

Chappell Roan on the red carpet, Grammy Awards, Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California, February 2026.  The rich auburn hair worked well with the hues of the gown and body art.

Even if Mugler’s “Stardust Aphrodite” didn’t at once migrate from the Paris catwalk to high street stores, the house didn’t abandon the motif and in February 2026, singer Chappell Roan (stage name of Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, b 1998) wore another of Mugler's interpretations (this time a burgundy gown) for the walk down the red carpet at the 68^th Annual Grammy Awards.  Predictably the event’s most publicized outfit, men everywhere doubtless were intrigued at the possibilities but the immediate reaction of women, regardless of their views of the aesthetic, may have been an involuntary curling of the toes as they imagined donning the gown.  That phenomenon is known as “mirror-touch synesthesia” which describes the experience when, upon observing another individual being touched or injured, a corresponding tactile or pain sensation is elicited in the anatomically matching location in the observer’s own body.  It’s very common but is a spectrum condition, most experiencing it as momentary sensation but in rare cases there have been patients for whom the effects have been long-lasting.  Technically, it’s triggered by a (usually temporary) reduction in the “self–other distinction” at the neural processing level, the causes thought to include (1) an heightened cross-activation between the visual and somatosensory cortices and (2) hyperactive or atypical functioning of the brain’s mirror neuron system.  There seems to be evidence an individual’s susceptibility to mirror-touch synesthesia is more significant in frequency of occurrence than the perception of the extent of the sensation (eg severity of an injury) witnessed.

Mirror-touch synesthesia is quite specific in its “virtual emulation” and differs from the vicarious responses (typically, a flinching when seeing someone suffer an injury) in being usually qualitatively stronger and manifested by a location-specific somatic sensation; it may run in parallel with emotional empathy (which happens typically without the literal bodily sensation) but is a separate phenomenon.  There are of course exceptions and the traditional (probably culturally obligatory) reaction of cricketers seeing a batsman struck “in the groin region” by a ball (delivered sometimes at 90 mph (145 km/h) or more) is one of mirth rather than empathy.

Drawing the lens: Chappell Roan photographed in front of the backdrop.

It would however seem the toes of mirror-touch synesthetes may uncurl because in the many photographs and video clips circulated, Ms Roan appeared not at all discomforted and the physics of that would have been determined by (1) the use of faux nipple piercings, (2) the lightweight fabric and (3) the gathering at the waist, ensuring each nipple had to bear the weight only of a few square inches of material.  No doubt pleased (if not surprised) by the interest generated, Ms Roan insisted it was not “that outrageous of an outfit”, adding “the look’s actually so awesome and weird” before concluding “I recommend just exercising your free will; it’s really fun and silly.”  The look was complimented with temporary body art, an extensive lace panel spread over her bare back with a pony on the chest, both credited to artist Jenny Collins of Puppy Puppy Playtime; the gold choker and earrings were by Buccellati.  Perhaps disappointing some, the outfit made only a one-off appearance on the red carpet, Ms Roan changing into something warmer when serving as an award-presenter.