“Pair,” from the Latin, means two like things. And pants (pantaloons) were originally two like things. You put them on one leg at a time because they actually came in two pieces. You put on one leg, tied it around your waist, then put on the other.
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Is it right to say a pair of jeans?
To talk about one piece of clothing we say “a pair of jeans”. For more than one we say “pairs of jeans”. You can also just say “jeans” for one pair. To call it “a jean” is incorrect.
Why do we say pair of knickers?
Knickers in the 19th Century
Today we still say a pair of knickers. That is because in the early 19th-century women’s underwear consisted of two separate legs joined at the waist. They really were a ‘pair’ of knickers.
Why do we say pants and not pant?
Pants are a singular object. Then why do we say “pants” instead of “pant”? It’s a common vagary of the English language that pants—or trousers, slacks, khakis, shorts—is always presented as a plural. It’s never pant, but rather a pair of pants.
Why are scissors plural?
Scissors has no plural form. We put pair of or pairs of in front of the word scissors to give it its plural form. For example: One pair of scissors.
Why are drawers called drawers?
The word drawers has been used since the 16th century to refer to garments such as stockings, underpants, and pants. It comes from the verb draw used in the sense of pull, probably because you pull them up your legs.
Why are there pants but not shirts?
Why do we refer to jeans in plural, like a pair of jeans, but we prefer to refer to shirts in singular, as in a shirt? It is because pants are the descendants of garments that came as separate leg pieces that then attached together to make lower body coverings.
Why was pants a dirty word in England?
The word comes from the name of a stock figure in the commedia dell’arte, a form of Italian comic theater popular throughout Europe from about the 16th to the mid-18th century. Pantalone, as he was called, was a greedy, lecherous, scheming old man who often ended up being duped and humiliated.
Why do Brits say pants?
In British English, pants means underpants or, informally, nonsense. In American English, pants means trousers; the singular form is used as adjective. [BrEn] He thought we were going to be absolute pants.
Why are shorts plural?
There’s another, much simpler reason that these words, and other related ones such as shorts, jeans, tights, knickers, and drawers are all plural: originally each leg was a separate garment, put on individually, and tied together with a belt or rope.
What is the plural of potato?
potato. noun. po·ta·to | pə-ˈtā-tō plural potatoes.
What is the plural of fish?
When you are talking about more than one kind or species of fish, both ‘fish’ and ‘fishes‘ are ok to use. There are many different fishes in our pond. [=There are many kinds of fish in our pond.] These three tropical fish have unique coloring. She studies all the fishes of the sea.
What is the singular word for deer?
Word forms: deerlanguage note: Deer is both the singular and the plural form.
When did ladies start wearing knickers?
How Did Knickers First Come About? The first recording of women wearing anything that could be considered as knickers is towards the end of the 18th century. At this time, women wore something that wouldn’t necessarily be recognised in today’s world as knickers but that’s exactly what they were.
What is it called when you wear a shirt but no pants?
Shirtcocking is when a man wears a shirt without pants or underwear, exposing the area below the waistline.
What is a dress with pants called?
jumpsuit, you can call the ones with pants jumpsuits.
Is it OK to wear suit pants without the jacket?
suit pants, remember that dress pants come on their own. Knowing what kind of pants you’re dealing with impacts how you’re going to style these two types of pants too. If you want to forgo a jacket on top, opt to wear trousers or dress pants. Don’t wear suit pants without the coordinating suit jacket.
What do British call shorts?
The British English term, short trousers, is used, only for shorts that are a short version of ordinary trousers (i.e., pants or slacks in American English).
Who wore pants first man or woman?
The oldest pair of preserved trousers ever discovered were dated from about 1200 to 900 BC and were thought to have been worn by both male and female horse riders. In the 1700s women like Hannah Snell donned pants and took on secret identities so they could fight alongside men in battles.
What do they call pants in Ireland?
trousers
When we says pants, we mean trousers, but you think we mean undies.
Why do British say bloody?
Bloody. Don’t worry, it’s not a violent word… it has nothing to do with “blood”.”Bloody” is a common word to give more emphasis to the sentence, mostly used as an exclamation of surprise. Something may be “bloody marvellous” or “bloody awful“. Having said that, British people do sometimes use it when expressing anger…