Terminology is a funny thing. Words go in and out of common usage, they get adopted by the community, they may fade out of use or become the replacement for whatever we were calling a thing previously. Today we’re going to take a brief moment to discuss the actual words for the piercing things we’re discussing, and which ones are just synonymous with each other, and which ones are simply incorrect.
These Terms Have Similar Meanings:
Nose screw, nose hook, nose twister, twist nose ring – These are all the same things. If it’s a nose ring with a curved base and a straight post, these are all fine. Nose or nostril “screw” is the most commonly used though, so the other terms may be a bit confusing.
Nose bone, nose stud – The same thing. These are nose rings with a straight post and a tiny bulb at the end to keep it from falling out. (NOT for fresh piercings)
Seamless ring, hoop ring, seam ring, continuous ring – These are circular rings that you press open and closed. There is no latch or object holding them shut, you have to manually close them. But these are all the same things.
Captive bead ring, BCR, CBR, Captive ring – This is almost just a redundancy. Captive rings use a charm or bead to hold the ring shut. BCR simply stands for “Ball Closure Ring” which is just another fancy way of saying “Captive Bead Ring”. Whatever you call it, it’s the same thing.
Circular barbell, horseshoe – These are exactly as described, a horseshoe-shaped ring with charm or ball ends. But let’s be real, almost everyone calls these horseshoes anyway.
Navel ring, belly button ring, belly ring – Again, this is just a redundancy. Your navel is your belly button, they are all terms for the same things.
These Terms Have Different Meanings:
Gauges vs. Plugs – Gauge is the thickness of a piece of jewelry or the diameter of your piercing. Plugs are an item of jewelry. Example: I stretched my lobes to 0 Gauge and got some fancy new plugs to wear in them.
Labret vs. Flatback – One really has to wonder how this happened. Very simply, a labret is an item of straight jewelry with a flat back, often used in lip piercings. It is not a body part, nor did it originate as an actual piercing. It is the name of the jewelry used. (The dawn of the “vertical labret” has complicated this a bit but even those piercings have their own actual names. And those names do not include the word “labret”.) Flatback, as a term, seems to just be a technically-correct-yet-still-wrong bit of slang terminology. It’s fine to use but if you use it while talking to your piercer, you might get a bit of the side-eye.
Septum vs. Clicker, captive, etc – Literally any circular jewelry can work in the right septum. Calling something a septum ring is only correct if you are actually wearing it in your septum. A clicker has a visible hinge, we’ve already reviewed what a captive ring is, and a segment ring is hinged like a clicker, but that hinge is not visible. The ring is totally uninterrupted visually when closed. If it’s not in your actual septum, it is not a septum ring.
Dermal vs. Anchor – This one is actually easy because both of them are technically wrong. It is called a transdermal implant. That nifty, single-point jewelry done on the collarbone, nape of the neck, along the cheekbone? All of them are transdermal implants. Calling them dermals is still acceptable but it’s just not entirely correct. (Think of subdermal implants, which are 3-D implants placed below the skin. Totally different.)
So, there you have it, folks. Now you know which terms are correct, which ones are wrong, and which ones are wrong but still okay to use. Get out there and start correcting educating your friends about the right way to talk about your piercings and jewelry. Happy piercing!
