Web Whispers

Having just spent the last days of my holiday in Italy there were inevitable topical Berlusconi discussions. Mention of Italy's player ex-PM led to all of us collectively admitting we had no idea what “bunga bunga” actually means. Being inquisitive folk, we undertook a quick web search and were delighted with the results.

Rather than finding a definitive answer, google prompted a game of “Web Whispers”, taking us on a magical mystery tour of vaguely related and highly amusing search results. From “bunga bunga” our first stop was “kancho”.

Kancho is the name given to a childish Japanese prank. Wikipedia helpfully describes it as “performed by clasping the hands together so the index fingers are pointing out and attempting to insert them sharply into someone's anal region when the victim is not looking. It is similar to the wedgie or a goosing (also known as “poo-fingering” in some English boarding schools)... A Kancho is often executed simultaneously as the offending party loudly emphasizes the second syllable of "Kan-CHO!":

Although surely likely to lead to sexual harassment charges if attempted in the UK, this bizarre practise is also apparently common in South Korea as “tong chim”, “dong chim” or “ddong chim” (translated as “poop needle”); in the Philippines as "katsibong", "bembong", "bombet", "jempot" or "pidyok" (from the Filipino word "tumbling", meaning “rectum”), in Taiwan where the translation means "I am a rapist" and in Vietnam as "Thông đít" ( translating as "to penetrate your anus").

The Japanese even have a TV game show where a celebrity gets to “Kancho” someone and a South Korean arcade game allows folk to simulate an anal probing. Of course this final discovery led to our next web search, “Boong-Ga Boong-Ga”...

The ever helpful Wikipedia told us: “The object of Boong-Ga Boong-Ga is to score points by spanking or performing kancho on a model of a human posterior embedded in the game's cabinet. A plastic finger is attached to the machine for players to perform the latter.

The game features eight characters players can punish: 'ex-girlfriend', 'ex-boyfriend', 'gangster', 'mother-in- law', gold-digger', 'prostitute', 'child molester' and 'con-artist'. During gameplay, the facial expression of the chosen character is displayed on a monitor.

The game also dispenses cards that rate players on their 'sexual behaviour', and for players who perform exceptionally well the machine will dispense a small plastic trophy in the shape of a pile of faeces.”

Next stop? Yes, you guessed it! Youtube clips of the game:

Alongside a few bizarre clips like the one above, related videos included the following:

Before things unintentionally delved into the downright wrong and potentially illegal, we finally stopped riding the electronic wave but did at least manage to find the below information. Where did we find it? Perceptively you've again guessed correctly...

Wikipedia says bunga bunga was allegedly taught to Silvio Berlusconi by Muammar al-Gaddafi and has recently acquired a whole new meaning, referring to an “orgy involving a powerful leader. Descriptions of bunga bunga disagree on its meaning, or perhaps illustrate the range of its reference. It is said to be a sort of underwater orgy where nude young women allegedly encircle the nude host and/or his friends in his swimming pool; an African-style ritual performed for male spectators by 20 naked young women or an erotic entertainment hosted by a rich host involving pole dancing and competitive striptease by topless skimpy-costumed women in nurses' outfits and police uniforms - the prize being prostitution for the host.”

Actress Sabina Began has proposed an alternative origin for the term, claiming it was a nickname based on her surname and that she'd organized the parties. We'll never know the correct origin but have certainly learnt a few disturbing things along the way!