# Mooning
**Mooning** is the act of exposing one's bare buttocks in public as a joke, insult, or protest[1](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/mooning). The word is informal slang, used as both a noun (plural *moonings*) and the present participle of the verb *to moon*[2](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mooning) • [3](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/mooning).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Definition | Showing one's naked bottom in public as a joke or as a protest[1](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/mooning) |
| Etymology of the metaphor | "Moon" has been used as slang for the buttocks since 1743 (Etymonline dates the noun sense to 1756)[2](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mooning) • [4](https://www.etymonline.com/word/moon) |
| Origin of the act's name | "To flash the buttocks" recorded by 1968 as U.S. student slang; popularized from American student slang in the 1960s[4](https://www.etymonline.com/word/moon) • [2](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mooning) |
| Legal status (example) | A Maryland court in 2006 ruled a mooning was "disgusting" and "demeaning" but not illegal, because it did not involve exposure of genitalia[5](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2012/aug/15/mooning-back-elton-john) |
| Other senses | Older senses of *moon* as a verb mean to idle or wander listlessly, or to pine as if infatuated[6](https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=mooning) |
| Crypto slang | In cryptocurrency and meme-stock communities, "mooning" describes an asset undergoing a strong, sustained upward price move[7](https://freedict.com/slang/mooning) |
## Meaning and usage
Dictionaries define the slang verb *moon* as exposing one's buttocks to others as a prank or disrespectful gesture, in both transitive and intransitive use: someone can "moon the crowd" or "moon at" people on a shore[6](https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=mooning) • [8](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/moon_2). Cambridge labels the noun *mooning* informal and defines it as "the act of showing your naked bottom in public as a joke or as a protest"[1](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/mooning). Slang glossaries describe the gesture as aiming for a laugh, a shocked reaction, or a blunt show of contempt, framing it as crude mockery or shock humor rather than a sexual invitation[9](https://streetslang.com/glossary/mooning-someone/).
The word also retains older, unrelated senses. *To moon* can mean to wander about or pass time languidly and aimlessly, or to yearn or pine as if infatuated; phrasal verbs include *moon about*, *moon around*, and *moon over*[6](https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=mooning) • [8](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/moon_2). A 2020s financial slang sense, drawn from the phrase "to the moon," uses *mooning* for a sharply rising asset price[7](https://freedict.com/slang/mooning).
## Etymology
The slang rests on a much older metaphor. Wiktionary records "moon" as a metaphor for "the buttocks" since 1743, and Etymonline dates the noun sense "buttocks" to 1756, probably from the idea of pale circularity[2](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mooning) • [4](https://www.etymonline.com/word/moon). The verb itself is older in other senses: Etymonline traces "to idle about, wander or gaze moodily" to 1836, and the buttock-flashing sense to 1968, as U.S. student slang[4](https://www.etymonline.com/word/moon). Wiktionary states the act's name was popularized from American student slang in the 1960s[2](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mooning).
The underlying word *moon* comes from [Old English](https://www.edgepedia.org/old-english) *mōna*, of Germanic origin, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin *mensis* and Greek *mēn*, both meaning "month"[8](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/moon_2).
## History of the gesture
The act long predates the word. The Guardian reports that mooning "has been recorded for millennia" and has often been used to rile enemies; during the fourth crusade, the Byzantines showed their bottoms en masse to fleeing Europeans[5](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2012/aug/15/mooning-back-elton-john).
**Protest and public spectacle.** Mooning has been used as political expression. In 2000, anarchists organized a "Moon Against the Monarchy" event outside [Buckingham Palace](https://www.edgepedia.org/buckingham-palace), though the planned "2,000-bum salute" drew only four participants[5](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2012/aug/15/mooning-back-elton-john). In Laguna Niguel, California, an annual event invites people to bare their backsides at passing Amtrak trains; in 2008, 10,000 people joined and police descended[5](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2012/aug/15/mooning-back-elton-john). Antanas Mockus, Bogotá's mayor, rose to fame after mooning student protesters and described such gambits as a way "to achieve self-regulation in the behavior among citizens"[10](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mooning). The Museum of Protest classifies rude gestures, including the exposed backside, as a form of nonviolent protest that expresses dissent and contempt without words[11](https://museumofprotest.org/methods/rude-gestures/).
## Legal status
The legality of mooning varies by jurisdiction. In liberal democracies it is often protected as free speech or treated at most as a minor offense[11](https://museumofprotest.org/methods/rude-gestures/). One U.S. judge ruled that indecent exposure laws apply only to genitalia, not bare buttocks, so mooning did not meet the legal definition of a crime in that case[11](https://museumofprotest.org/methods/rude-gestures/). In the most-cited example, a Maryland court in 2006 decided that although a man's mooning had been "disgusting" and "demeaning," it was not illegal, since it did not involve exposure of genitalia[5](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2012/aug/15/mooning-back-elton-john). Arrests still occur: a man in Manitoba was arrested for mooning in 2012, and the BBC reported a terminally ill man arrested after mooning at a speed camera van in 2021[5](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2012/aug/15/mooning-back-elton-john) • [10](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mooning).
## References
1. [Meaning of mooning in English, Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/mooning)
2. [mooning, Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mooning)
3. [Definition of 'mooning', Collins English Dictionary](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/mooning)
4. [Moon, Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Etymonline](https://www.etymonline.com/word/moon)
5. [Mooning is back – and here's why, The Guardian (15 August 2012)](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2012/aug/15/mooning-back-elton-john)
6. [American Heritage Dictionary Entry: mooning](https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=mooning)
7. [Mooning Meaning & Origin, FreeDict Slang](https://freedict.com/slang/mooning)
8. [moon verb, Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/moon_2)
9. [Mooning someone Meaning, Streetslang](https://streetslang.com/glossary/mooning-someone/)
10. [MOONING Definition & Meaning, Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/mooning)
11. [Rude gestures, Museum of Protest](https://museumofprotest.org/methods/rude-gestures/)
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