The Terrifying Origins of Some Scary Words
Monsters, Werewolves, and Nightmares… oh my
Bikini
The bikini might not seem like a scary word until you remember its nuclear origins.
After WWII ended and everyone was feeling frisky, French designer Louis Réard split women’s bathing suits into two pieces. He named his fashion invention the bikini after the atomic bombs that were tested on Bikini Atoll. You know…that time the U.S. blew up an island, forced its inhabitants to evacuate, and caused radiation sickness and the death of several Japanese fishermen. Yeah. That.
Réard predicted his swimwear would be just as explosive. He was right about that one.
When the bikini was first worn in America, several states banned it for being immodest. Most swimsuit models refused to wear it. It took a few movie stars, or ‘bombshells’, adopting the fashion for it to become acceptable beachwear.
The atomic bomb that blew up the Bikini Atolls went on to inspire one of the biggest movie monster legends — Godzilla.
Monster
In the sixteenth century, people with deformities or even slight abnormalities were believed to be a sign of God’s will. Dwarfs, giants, or people suffering from hypertrichosis (werewolf syndrome) were…
