Derived from "Dark" and "Dickwad". At Burning Man, a Darkwad is someone who is walking around or riding a bike at night with insufficient illumination. With the thousands of bike riders, art vehicles and pedestrians swarming about on the Playa, it is everyone's responsibility to make sure that they can be easily seen at night from a distance. People most commonly accomplish this with LEDs, Glow Sticks, Glow Wire, and Head Lanterns mounted either on their bike or on their person; The more the better. People who fail to do so get cat-called, ridiculed and humiliated by the other Playa denizens.

A pubic hair piece. A toupee for the pubic area/genitals. In the 1700’s when mercury was used to treat sexually transmitted diseases (Gonorrhea or Syphilis) one of the side effects was the loss of pubic hair. To disguise this condition, that was not cured by mercury, a Merkin was employed.