What's it called in American English?

August 23, 2015 7:56 AM

You know that game when you grab someone's forearm with both hands and twist back and forth in opposite directions? In Swedish it's called "tusennålar" - thousand needles. My kid asked me what it's called in English and I hesitated to tell him "Indian burn" which is what I remember. Surely there is something better? Help me out please.
posted by three blind mice to Writing & Language (34 answers total)

Can't say for America but growing up in northern BC we called that a snakebite.
posted by Sternmeyer at 7:58 AM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

In the Upper Midwest in the '90s we called it a snakebite, too.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 7:59 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

We called it a chinese burn (in northern england) but I'm sure I saw it called an Indian burn on an episode of the Simpsons
posted by missmagenta at 8:04 AM on August 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

Alas, it was "Indian burn" in the northwest US in the 90s.
posted by esoterrica at 8:07 AM on August 23, 2015 [6 favorites]

I don't know any other name but "Indian rope burn" either. D:
posted by chainsofreedom at 8:16 AM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

Midwesterner here--Yep, it was known an an Indian Burn when I was growing up in the 70s...
posted by bookmammal at 8:17 AM on August 23, 2015

I grew up in DE in the 90s and, unfortunately, the only terms I ever knew for that were "Indian burn" and "Chinese haircut". Ick.
posted by darchildre at 8:17 AM on August 23, 2015

I grew up in Maryland, Virginia, and California in the 80s and I know it as "Indian burn"
posted by mont the drifter at 8:18 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Avoid the PC mess and go straight for The Purple Nurple
posted by Gungho at 8:21 AM on August 23, 2015

In England we called it a "red hot poker" when I was a kid (1960s/70s).
posted by essexjan at 8:23 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

A purple nurple is when you grab someone's nipple and twist it really hard, hence purple nurple (nipple).
posted by blue t-shirt at 8:31 AM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

I'd call it "Feel the Burn" instead. I also grew up with Indian Burn and Chinese Burn and it grosses me out to think of how long those racist names have persisted.
posted by Hermione Granger at 8:33 AM on August 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

I grew up in Southern Ontario in the 60s, and we called it an Indian Burn.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 8:36 AM on August 23, 2015

I think I heard "rope burn" (sans Indian) as much as anything growing up (UP, 1980s).
posted by mr. digits at 8:37 AM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

In Dutch, we used to call this barbed wire.
posted by Too-Ticky at 8:44 AM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

In South Africa as a child (British English), we called it a Chinese Bangle.
posted by Gomez_in_the_South at 8:46 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

In southern England in the 80s and 90s this was a Chinese burn (unfortunately)
posted by altolinguistic at 8:47 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Central Ohio in the late 80's and it was an Indian burn
posted by ThaBombShelterSmith at 8:47 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Indian Sunburn is what we called in the part of Southeast USA where I grew up.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 8:54 AM on August 23, 2015

My husband calls it a Hertz Doughnut. He said the boys at the neighborhood pool (Louisville KY during the 80s) would ask each other if they wanted a Hertz Doughnut. They would then do the twisty arm thing and say "hurts, don'it".
posted by chaoticgood at 8:56 AM on August 23, 2015 [25 favorites]

We always called it an Indian Rug Burn.
posted by banannafish at 9:04 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Just a rope burn. You can still use that without the Indian part.
posted by limeonaire at 9:11 AM on August 23, 2015

Grew up in midwest US with it being called an Indian Burn or Indian Rope Burn, but when we moved to PA there were definitely people who called it a Hertz Donut, (for the reason chaoticgood mentions)
posted by Mchelly at 9:31 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

It was Indian Burn where I grew up (PNW). I like Snakebite as a replacement name. A Thousand Needles is also good.

For us, to give someone a Hertz Donut you just punched them hard in the upper arm. Nothing fancy.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 9:38 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

In my experience, a Hertz donut is a sort of umbrella joke, so the response could be a sock on the arm or "I think we should see other people."

As to the arm rubbing, yep, it was called an Indian Burn when I was a kid in New Jersey in the 70s, and it was called an Indian Burn in Colorado in the 90s when my son was a kid, too.

You can certainly come up with a better name like ropeburn or snakebite or whatever, but still acknowledge how racism seeps out in all kinds of weird places like that.
posted by ernielundquist at 10:12 AM on August 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I'm gonna go with ropeburn. (I never heard Hertz Doughnut - he's already fond of puns and I'm trying hard not to encourage that sort of evil.)
posted by three blind mice at 10:54 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

My teen says it still goes by Indian rope burn or rug burn here in the midwest.

That was what I remember it being called in the 70's/80's out east.
posted by LittleMy at 2:30 PM on August 23, 2015

i thought that it was a noogie in US English?
posted by Wilder at 3:23 PM on August 23, 2015

Noogie (n.): vigorous rubbing of another's scalp with one's knuckles.
posted by mr. digits at 3:32 PM on August 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

Michigan, in the 80s, I heard it called "snakebite".
posted by silentbicycle at 7:37 PM on August 23, 2015

California in the '60s it was an 'Indian Burn' because it generated heat like rubbing 2 sticks together to make a fire. That's not racist.
posted by Homer42 at 1:31 AM on August 24, 2015

Indian burn. Chicago 70s and 80s.
posted by persona au gratin at 5:21 AM on August 24, 2015

Clearly "India. Burn" no longer should be the preferred nomenclature. So I'd go with "rope burn" too
posted by persona au gratin at 5:23 AM on August 24, 2015

California in the '60s it was an 'Indian Burn' because it generated heat like rubbing 2 sticks together to make a fire. That's not racist.

Things change. California in the 80s and 90s we called it an 'Indian Burn' with the understanding it turned your skin "red like an Indian". Most certainly racist.
posted by like_neon at 5:29 AM on August 24, 2015