Pizza Upskirt (Pizza Undercarriage)

An “upskirt” photo captures what’s under a female’s skirt; a “pizza upskirt” photo captures the back of the pizza. A flickr photo was taken on April 3, 2005 of the back of a pizza slice; in August 2005, Kathryn Yu commented, “can’t help feeling like this is the equivalent of an ‘upskirt’ photograph, but for pizza.” The pizza blog Serious Eats—Slice explained the origin of the term on December 18, 2006 in “The ‘Pizza Upskirt’: Toward a New Pizzalogical Lexicon.”
 
“Upskirt” has sexist connotations, so Serious Eats—Slice began replacing the term with “undercarriage” since at least May 2010.
 
   
flickr
By Adam Kuban
This photo was taken on April 3, 2005 in New York, New York, US.
Fornino
Comments and faves
Kathryn Yu (93 months ago) (August 2005—ed.)
crusty!
(can’t help feeling like this is the equivalent of an “upskirt” photograph, but for pizza.)
 
Adam Kuban (93 months ago) (August 2005—ed.)
Heh. Upskirt. You’re onto something there, Yu. I’m adding “pizza upskirts” as a tag.
   
Serious Eats—Slice
The ‘Pizza Upskirt’: Toward a New Pizzalogical Lexicon
Adam Kuban
DEC 18, 2006
4:41 PM
(...)
Our first true pizza upskirt debuted on February 13, 2005, but it was not until August 2005 that our buddy Kathryn Yu commented on this photo on Flickr, “Can’t help feeling like this is the equivalent of an ‘upskirt’ photograph, but for pizza.”
 
From that point on, we have applied Kathryn’s genius term to these shots, and now our photostream is full of them (64 to date). A handful of other pizza-loving Flickr members have warmed to the phrase as well.
 
The reason I’m highlighting this neologism is that on Friday Slice got Kottked and then Boing Boinged in regard to the term, with Boing Boing adding it to its handful of jargon watch words.
   
Popsugar
Yummy Link: The Pizza Upskirt
JULY 25, 2007
As tantalizing as the gleaming grease-drenched tops may be, there are folks who are infatuated with the backside of pizzas. Pizza enthusiasts can compare and admire the pizza “upskirts” (as the term is lovingly called) submitted by fellow pizza-goers. I couldn’t help but admire a bit o’ that backside myself!
   
Serious Eats—Slice
Baltimore: Iggies
Pizzablogger
MAY 20, 2010
9:55 AM
(...)
Chardee Har Har. Undercarriage shots from three different pizzas measure a few different readings on the mythical “char-o-meter”. [Photograph: Pizzablogger]
   
Serious Eats—Slice
How to Make Thin-Crust Focaccia Pizza
Aaron Mattis
JUN 19, 2010
10:00 AM
(...)
After my family devoured the pizzas so quickly that I couldn’t even get an undercarriage shot, I concluded that my high expectations had been met.
     
Serious Eats—Slice 
Donatella’s: Neapolitan Pizza That May Please the Purist and Everyone Else
The Slice Team
OCT 8, 2010
11:00 AM
(...)
COMMENTS
gore-may
5:16PM ON 10/08/10
(...)
I also note that when reviewing Ms. A.‘s new pizza joint and describing the wealth of pictures, SLICE has temporarily stopped using the term. “Upskirt” to describe the undercarriage. I wonder why? Despite the term itself, it has become a traditional standard for describing pizza crust; it just vanished when Ms. A’s pies were reviewed. Maybe someone at SLICE will comment. Nice reviews, but Ms. A. has had more than her share of space.
 
Pizzablogger
6:57PM ON 10/08/10
@gore-may, the term “upskirt” has been phased out here since before Donatella’s has been talked about. Somewhere on here I even recall reading that the person who dubbed the term is not even fond of it anymore(is that even correct Adam or is my memory failing?).
 
Whatever the case, upskirt was changing into undercarriage (I wonder who popularized that?) pre-Donatella.—K
   
Serious Eats—Slice
Glossary: crust terminology
Adam Kuban
JAN 6, 2011
8:30 AM
(...)
undercarriage (upskirt)
What’s going on in those “char” photos above? Who takes a photo of the bottom of their pizza? In Slice land, you’ll see it referred to as either an upskirt (though we’ve since moved away from that term a bit) or an undercarriage shot. It’s simply there to show how well done a pizza crust is.
   
ActiveRain
Do You Speak Pizza?
Posted by Kristin Johnston,Waukesha County Realtor Buyers Agent,Waukesha Cty WI Real Estate on 09/08/2011 09:52 AM
(...)
Upskirt: The viw of a slice from underneath while you are peeking at how charred (or not) the crust is—a popular move by pizza bloggers!