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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

backal en · ADJ

Etymology

From back + -al, in humorous reference to frontal. Used since at least the 1970s.

Meanings

  1. (especially, humorous, not-comparable, of nudity) Of or involving a person's back (rather than the front or side).
    • 2007 September 28, Bob Mondello, "Coming Soon, to a Theater Near You: Naked People", All Things Considered, National Public Radio Movie nudity has a long history in Hollywood.... And a lot of different kinds. Male and female, partial and full, frontal and ... backal?
    • “Alright, people, listen up. Nursery school is over. I don't know what you've been doing up until now, but from now on, things around here are gonna be done by the book. There's gonna be full frontal and backal strip searches. All communication will be done in the form of codes, which will be changed on a daily basis.” 1999 February 8, Ned Goldreyer, “The Competition” (7:13 from the start), in Dilbert, season 1, episode 3, spoken by Dogbert (Chris Elliott), archived from the original on 20 Jun 2026:
    • In television, the final refuge of Victorianism, eroticism is the great no-no. "I have coined the expression: 'At NBC, we don't show frontal, backal or sidal nudity,'" Traviesas says. "Although I squirm a little — we are showing more backal nudity." 1977, New Times:
    • There is a Full Backal shot as Arnold looks out over the L.A. skyline, and a distant shot, Full Frontal, as he is approaching the punks, [...] 1991 June 10, Synth F. Oberheim, “Nudity in The Terminator”, in alt.cult-movies (Usenet):
    • I'll have to draw the line at frontal nudity, but I would consider backal or sidal nudity, provided I get a good percentage of … 1989 August 24, Blair P. Houghton, LeMovie, rec.bicycles, Usenet, quoting an earlier post by Daniel Mocsny
    • full backal nudity
    • Was the full-backal-nudity shot of the lady doctor radiology instructor a first for a network prime-time series, or have I just been leading too sheltered a life, and such shots are common nowadays? 1992 September 2, William G. Martin, “First "Full-backal" nudity on TV? (was Re: GOING TO EXTREMES)”, in rec.arts.tv (Usenet):

Coordinates

frontal · sidal