information:classification, structural:reformatting, structural:scholar_edition, linguistic:voice_change, structural:summarization
Not wearing lower torso undergarments

Going without lower body undergarments has come to be known by the slang term going commando, as well as sometimes free-balling or free-buffing (referencing the scrotum and the vulva respectively).

The origins of the phrase go commando are uncertain, with some speculating that it may refer to being "out in the open" or "ready for action". The modern usage may be traced in the United States to university students c. 1974, where it was perhaps associated with soldiers in the Vietnam War, who were reputed to go without underwear to "increase ventilation and reduce moisture". The phrase was in use in the UK before then, referring mainly to women, from the late 1960s. The connection to the UK and women has been suggested to link to a World War II euphemism for prostitutes working in London's West End, who were termed "Piccadilly Commandos". The term was re-popularized after it appeared in a 1996 episode of Friends, where Joey Tribbiani wears everything Chandler Bing owns in an act of revenge, while also going "commando".

In a 2014 open-access internet-based poll, 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair asked visitors to their websites the question "How often do you 'go commando'?" A quarter of participants said that they did this at least occasionally, while 39% said they never did so, and 35% said that they did not know the meaning of the term.