Edith Knickertwist

Edith Knickertwist is an alias Bart used to place prank bids on all the items at the school's Drowning in Debt auction.

History
Principal Skinner served as the auctioneer for the school's fund-raising auction. No bids were placed on the first item, and it appeared that the second item was headed for the same fate when Skinner's cell phone rang. On the phone was Bart, disguising his voice. He identified himself as an eccentric English widow named Edith Knickertwist, spoke in an appropriate accent, and placed a bid of a thousand dollars. Skinner immediately declared the item to be sold, even though Edith's identity was completely unconfirmed.

In a similar fashion, Bart as Edith placed winning bids on every other item in the auction, totaling $116,000. At the end of the auction, Bart ended the prank on his own by walking out in front of the auction's attendees, speaking in the "Edith" voice, and shaking his behind at them. Skinner was publicly humiliated, and the next morning Superintendent Chalmers berated him for his incompetent handling of the auction. Skinner lost his temper and challenged Chalmers to take over Bart's education if he thought it was so easy. Chalmers accepted the challenge, which led to the formation of the study group.

Behind the Laughter
"Knickertwist" is a reference to the British slang term "get one's knickers in a twist", which means to become upset, confused or annoyed, generally (but not always) over a trivial matter.