Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more 20 January 2021
Smarty pants
“Round and round the garden, like a teddy bear; One step, two step, tickle you under there!” Ah, how well we recall Papa Feedback first introducing us to the delights of the type of tickling known as gargalesis – or is it knismesis? – with this nursery rhyme way back in the blue remembered gardens of childhood.
This sudden wave of nostalgia is unleashed on us by a startling instance of thrusting modernity: hot pants that sense your movements in order to tickle you to better athletic performance.