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this answer to Wrapped hexagon topology begins:

It's still a torus, lol - just with a $180^{\circ}$ "Indian burn" relative to the square-wrapped version:

and the link to Wikipedia's now deleted article "List of school pranks; Indian or Chinese burn" is unfortunate in my opinion. (article is no longer available)

So looking towards finding the best way to edit this post, I'd like to ask:

  1. Does this usage have some mathematical history? Does this term have a specific mathematical meaning in this context?
  2. Is there an alternative way to describe this twisting motion that doesn't have an ethnic reference to a sadistic act?
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    $\begingroup$ I know this is about a math SE answer, but it seems like it might be better on, say, the English SE rather than Math Meta. But it also seems like "twist" suffices in this context so that it might not be worth asking there either. $\endgroup$
    – Mark S.
    Commented Mar 19, 2021 at 1:52
  • $\begingroup$ @MarkS. I've edited the question to make it clearer just why this is the correct place for this question. $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Mar 19, 2021 at 2:40
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    $\begingroup$ Wikipedia does not delete articles for being insensitive. Wikipedia deletes articles that it doesn't find "noteworthy" and/or if there aren't any reputable sources to cite. I would remove mention of Wikipedia from the question for better focus. $\endgroup$
    – Sera Gunn
    Commented Mar 19, 2021 at 4:39
  • $\begingroup$ @TrevorGunn done, thanks! $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Mar 19, 2021 at 5:20
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    $\begingroup$ "Half a Dehn twist" might be a good alternate descriptor, though that's probably more mathy when the intent was to go less mathy. Here are some alternate suggestions: one could picture licorice, an auger, a drill bit, or a screw thread and think about twisting the ends so that the lines on the outside are more or less twisted. $\endgroup$
    – KReiser
    Commented Mar 19, 2021 at 7:16
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    $\begingroup$ I am guessing that the term in question is less common than when I was a child; as such, it is likely less evocative for current readers than the author of that answer might expect. $\endgroup$
    – Will Jagy
    Commented Mar 19, 2021 at 17:06
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    $\begingroup$ "Twist" would be just fine, to be understood in its informal sense. $\endgroup$
    – Lee Mosher
    Commented Mar 21, 2021 at 14:00
  • $\begingroup$ @LeeMosher Thanks! I'm a big fan of Math SE's community and its careful and respectful treatment of each others' posts. As this user no longer seems to be active, it will fall upon the community or the moderators to adjust this. I was hoping someone who's active here would do so, but nobody has, so I'll do so now. $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Mar 25, 2021 at 3:41

2 Answers 2

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In mathematics the proper name is Dehn twist. The comment is perhaps unfortunate but orthogonal to the usual jargon.

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    $\begingroup$ excellent, thank you! $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Apr 28, 2021 at 14:47
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    $\begingroup$ I changed this from a mobile link. I hope you don't mind! Thanks for the link, this was very educational. $\endgroup$
    – Cameron Williams
    Commented Apr 29, 2021 at 14:53
  • $\begingroup$ For some reason I missed the notification about your answer until just now. Please feel free to edit the answer further if you think that's more accurate. $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Jul 18, 2021 at 15:53
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Based on comments under the question I've made an edit and it's been accepted. I found the answer very helpful!

The twist on an elastic cylindrical segment was not a good analogy to the painful, abrading act upon a person's arm for obvious reasons.

We should treat each other's surfaces differently than we treat our own mathematical surfaces. :-)

hexagon to torus

original link (no longer working): http://www.math.cornell.edu/~mec/Winter2009/Victor/part1.htm

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