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up vote 2 down vote favorite

After planking, owling and leisure dive, now there is the trend which is called "Batmanning". Obviously it is a made-up word. Is there a proper substitute for it? What is the verb that defines the act when a bat hangs from somewhere?

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2  
Doesn't your question answer itself? The verb when a bat hangs somewhere is "hang". Or are you looking for a one-word synonym for the verb phrase "hang upside-down"? – Peter Taylor Sep 7 '11 at 12:26
@Peter: The latter. That's why I tagged my question as single-word-requests. – Mehper C. Palavuzlar Sep 7 '11 at 13:10
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Yes, I saw the tag, but since "hang" is already a single word... – Peter Taylor Sep 7 '11 at 13:26
@Peter: I thought there would be a verb to distinguish upside down from upright... – Mehper C. Palavuzlar Sep 7 '11 at 13:28
(Bah! Batman does not hang upside-down like that.) – Beta Sep 7 '11 at 14:16

4 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

"Planking" is just as incorrect as "Batmanning" other than the spellchecker is okay with it for unrelated reasons. If the masses of the internet feel like coining a term that compares 'hanging like a bat' to 'planking' then so be it. The same goes for "owling".

Assuming you meant a word that just means, "hanging upside down":

  • roost
  • perch
  • hang
  • suspend
  • dangle

There isn't usually a way to distinguish "upside down" from "upright" positions with these but context generally helps:

He hung from the rafters.

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If the masses of the internet feel like using “than” when they mean “then,” then so be it. :) – Tsuyoshi Ito Sep 7 '11 at 14:39
Yeah, I still haven't been able to figure out an easy way to remember which is which. :P – MrHen Sep 10 '11 at 22:19
up vote 3 down vote

Teenage trends are all about being different from the oldies, and I am sure the 'Batmanners' would be mortified to find that there already was a word for the activity they have invented. That said, I think they are fairly safe in assuming "hanging upside down like a bat while somebody takes a picture of you" is not popular enough to have a single-word synonym.

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up vote 2 down vote

Well, the boots they use with hooks to keep you hanging on a bar like that are called "inversion boots". They were popular back in the 80's after Richard Gere used them in a movie (don't tell the kids this).

If you want a technical term for the act of using inversion boots, it would be inversion.

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up vote 2 down vote

You might describe it as resupinate. Although resupination means to appear upside-down, I think in a human context, the hanging part would be implied.

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