Talk:Wolf-whistling

Economist data
Data from this study could find good use in this article. I'll write about it later, but wanted to mention the source now. In the US, nearly 75% of women 18-34 consider wolf-whistling to be harassment. https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/11/daily-chart-14 Jtrnp (talk) 17:39, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

Tex Avery?
I thought the relation to the "wolf" was from Tex Avery's wolf, but I don't see anything about it here. So is that from the cartoon or not? Would make sense, otherwise why is it event called "wolf"?... Klow (talk) 22:42, 22 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Searching for , Google finds (excerpt):
 * ...The verb meaning "eat like a wolf" is attested from 1862. Wolves as a symbol of lust are ancient, e.g. Roman slang lupa "whore," lit. "she-wolf" (preserved in Sp. loba, It. lupa, Fr. louve). The equation of "wolf" and "prostitute, sexually voracious female" persisted into 12c., but by Elizabethan times wolves had become primarily symbolic of male lust. The specific use of wolf for "sexually aggressive male" first recorded 1847; wolf-whistle first attested 1952. ...
 * -http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wolf


 * But Merriam Webster sez
 * Definition of WOLF WHISTLE
 * a distinctive 2-toned whistle sounded by a boy or man to express sexual admiration for a girl or woman in his vicinity
 * First Known Use of WOLF WHISTLE
 * 1946
 * --CliffC (talk) 02:49, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
 * OED says 1944: http://oed.com/view/Entry/229868. (Make up a library card.) 99.64.170.58 (talk) 02:25, 2 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Don't be ridiculous. Why use a reliable expert source like a real dictionary, when you can just make up a bunch of random half-recollecitons of urban myths and made-up bullshit partially recalled from long ago. We don't need no stinking citation ... this is Wikepedia. Let the bullshit stand, why ruin Wikipedia's reputation with proper research and citation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.154.224.79 (talk) 21:15, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

young girls
The article says that wolf-whistles were originally made to show approval of "a young girl or woman thought to be physically or sexually attractive". To me the phrase "young girl" suggests a child. Apparently it once meant a young woman, and some speakers may still use it that way, but as I understand it, my interpretation is now the more common one. I have to wonder: does this article use an outdated phrase, or were wolf-whistles sometimes made in reference to children? ekips39 ❀talk  16:05, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

That is so true Moureencoote (talk) 02:01, 29 July 2016 (UTC)

No,wolf-whistling is a technique that can performance by anyone who try to do it. Cuthead (talk) 08:31, 3 January 2017 (UTC)

Use on males
The wolf whistle is sometimes used on males. Sometimes by females, sometimes by other males. 78.149.209.149 (talk) 11:47, 13 August 2016 (UTC)

Harmful and abusive
Article could be improved with an explanation (appropriately referenced) of why some people choose to interpret a sound as abusive and harmful. Why is it so awful to hear that one is attractive? 72.208.150.248 (talk) 14:36, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

Because wolf-whistling performance is strong man act,so the weak one will feel panic.Cuthead (talk) 08:32, 3 January 2017 (UTC)

Edit warring by Cuthead
Editor Cuthead has repeatedly added unsourced information to the article despite several warnings not to do so. Sundayclose (talk) 02:42, 27 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Since has been asked repeatedly to discuss this issue and continues to make edits without doing so, we are left to conclude that he/she has no intention of discussing or abiding by Wikipedia's policies requiring reliable sources. Sundayclose (talk) 15:22, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

Nonsense
What a misleading and wretched little stub, with its multitude of low-grade pop media citations as sources!

The term does not denote a particular physical arrangement for producing the whistle. I would think that the overwhelming majority of wolf whistles are generated without using the fingers, by the far more common pucker-up-and-blow whistling technique. See the famous "whistle" scene between Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart in the 1944 film To Have and Have Not for a classic example.

The distinguishing feature is the sound produced: a rising tone, a brief pause, then a tone which rises not quite as high, then falls.

FWIW, a bit of ancient OR from a long-ago high school friend: try saying "F*** you!" by whistling the same inflections you would use if speaking it slowly. Then exaggerate that a bit. One interpretation of the whistle, therefore, is "[Wow, I'd sure like to] f*** you!", which accords with the traditional meaning reduced to its hormonal essence. Just some OR from an anonymous WP editor, but hardly less reliable than the clueless newspaper and web sources now cited. 66.81.246.213 (talk) 09:00, 3 July 2017 (UTC)

UPDATE: The conflation of wolf-whistling with finger-whistling has now been cured, with the possible exception of one now-cn-tagged statement which may be a product of that confusion. Having now read the available sources carefully, I see that my disparagement of them above was unjust, and I hereby retract it. Clearly, it was one or more of the involved editors that was "clueless". 66.81.247.242 (talk) 11:18, 8 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Where has that content moved? The term Finger whistling still redirects here and there's nothing about finger whistling here. Anka.213 (talk) 07:54, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

House built on mud foundation, ripple effects
A probing of the article history reveals that the confusion of "wolf whistling" and "finger whistling", excised by my recent edits, had been there since the creation of the stub in 2005. The supporting material provided then was another how-to guide on whistling with fingers, linked as "How to Wolf Whistle" by the founding editor but actually titled "How To Whistle Loudly", and like the recently deleted how-to guide it does not contain the string "wolf" in any form.

Trouble is, the error had twelve years to propagate, as facts and fallacies in Wikipedia articles are apt to do, so it has probably contaminated other WP articles and any number of potential cits by now. Always assume that reporters, especially, may have done some quick research by looking it up in WP, whether via Googling or directly.

One consequence of the Original Sin is that a "Finger whistling" article now needs to be created to cover that very deserving but distinct subject. All would have been well if the article had been so named in the first place and the word "wolf" left out of it.

Another is that on 14 February 2006 this article was moved from "Wolf Whistle" to "Wolf-whistling" on the basis that "'Wolf Whistle' is not a proper noun, and it describes an act, so it should end with -ing." Not a proper noun in any event, true, but correctly defined it describes both an act and a sound, like "cough", and "Wolf whistle" seems the more rational title in that light, as well as the more commonly used phrase. Will someone kindly move it back, without the capitalization of "whistle"? I am embarrassed to say that after seven years of WP editing I still have not initiated myself into the mysteries of "moving" articles. 66.81.245.15 (talk) 20:20, 8 July 2017 (UTC)

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The Turn To Call?
This appears near end of second paragraph without context, explanation or a link. So what in the world is it? Anyone? Kinkyturnip (talk) 21:09, 20 August 2018 (UTC)


 * It is a whistle that is used in the Navy. If you click on the footnote and go to the archive.org page, it is listed under Turn To. Kaltenmeyer (talk) 14:49, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

I have to ask, who was the person who considered that wolf whistle "quiet"? Sounded pretty loud, but maybe it's just for me? Am I that attractive? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:14BB:69D:100D:7952:E8F7:E575:7BC (talk) 20:21, 8 November 2022 (UTC)

Finger whistling?
Finger whistling redirects here, but this article mentions nothing about that technique. Either that should be split into its own article or more info about that should be added here. Anka.213 (talk) 07:50, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

Whistling profesional
hello i learned to whistle with my fingers only one problem i have my whistling sound fluctuates once good whistle second time bad third time almost nothing fourth time again superb what do i have to do for this i have to swallow my saliva but saliva is preventing me from doing this? Do I have to turn the language differently because that's how I learned to read, yours This is how I learned wikipedia, can you advise me please. No YouTube helped me, but someone who knew, I learned by reading yours. I would like to improve my whistles! ​ 2A00:EE2:B01:600:7094:D3A3:479E:5906 (talk) 10:21, 3 July 2023 (UTC)