In the grand tapestry of juvenile delinquency, few pranks stand out with the grim distinction of the swirly. For the unitiated, it's a simple recipe: one head, one toilet, and a generous serving of humiliation.
The swirly, a staple in high school bathrooms and frat house initiations, is less a prank and more a rite of passage, wrapped in porcelain and powered by the inexorable flush of adolescence. It's the kind of prank that makes you question the human condition, but also, weirdly, appreciate the ingenuity of teenage cruelty.
As connoisseurs of bathroom culture, we felt the swirly deserved a thorough investigation into its origins, appeal, and (potential) legal ramifications. Let’s dive—or rather dunk our heads into—the details of this dreaded bathroom baptism.
What Is a Swirly?
A swirly is a prank where someone holds the victim upside down over a toilet bowl, submerges their head, and then flushes the water. The swirly its name from the swirling motion of the water when the toilet gets flushed. It typically involves two or more perpetrators—the swirlers, if you will—ganging up on a lone victim: the swirlee.
A swirly can be done as a dare amongst dude. But it’s perhaps most well-known as a bullying or hazing tool.
DUDE tip: Don’t give anybody a swirly (or attempt to give yourself one). If done improperly or with nefarious intent, a swirly can lead to serious consequences, legal and otherwise (more on that later).
The History of the Swirly
According to Fandom, the swirly gained popularly in the 90s as a school prank.
Swirlies appear to be a global phenomenon, although the prank goes by different names elsewhere. In the United Kingdom, it’s called the "bogwash,” or in certain parts of Australia, it is called the "dunnyflush.”
It’s unclear who devised the swirlie as a form of punishment or when it was invented. The earliest online reference we could find to swirlies dates all the way back to a 2002 Urban Dictionary entry from user 2dFx: The process of sticking someone’s head in the toilet and flushing.
Today, swirlies remain a popular fixture in the DUDE lexicon, both in pop culture and day-to-day conversations.
Swirlies in Pop Culture
On TV, it's a classic scene: a group of bigger kids, usually high school boys, hoist the unfortunate victim and dunk his head into a toilet before flushing.
Take the TV show Archer, for instance. Archer recounts to Lana how he caught pneumonia after a swirly in high school—two bigger boys had picked him up, turned him upside down, and shoved his head in the bowl.
In The Simpsons, Bart Simpson gets a swirly courtesy of Jimbo Jones. And in Cobra Kai, Kenny gets back at Anthony LaRusso by plunging his head into a used toilet.
Real Life Examples of Swirlies
After thorough research, we uncovered two notable cases where people got in trouble for administering swirlies.
The most prominent case was in 2013, when a high school football team in Wisconsin got busted for giving swirlies during summer training camp.
"We uncovered that there was a tradition when this retreat happens that people are receiving what they call swirlies, at the camp," said Greendale High School Principal Steve Lodes. "I would assume it's some level of someone's head being flushed in a toilet."
Lodes said up to 50 players may have been subjected to swirlies. However, further investigation revealed that several of the players volunteered to participate. So while the school deemed the incident inappropriate, it wasn't considered hazing.
Another more serious swirly involved a Virginia mother who dunked her son’s head in the toilet for punishment. The woman’s older son filmed the incident, which ended up appearing on Facebook, sparking nationwide outrage. A local detective asked for an arrest warrant, but the State Attorney’s Office declined.
DUDE Nation Doesn’t Endorse Swirlies
Much like the atomic wedgie, the swirly is hilarious in theory. Butt in practice, it’s a problem. As you can see, swirlies can lead to local news scandals and legal drama. Not to mention the risk of harming your fellow DUDE.
We believe the bathroom should be a man’s destination for pleasure, not pain—an oasis for your ass. Speaking of which, do yourself a favor and ditch your sandy two-ply for a pack of DUDE Wipes.
Whether you wipe with Fragrance-Free, Mint Chill, Shea Butter Smooth, or Herbal Relief, your b-hole will be the cleanest part of your body.
