The pieces were put on each leg separately and then wrapped and tied or belted at the waist (just like cowboys’ chaps). The plural usage persisted out of habit even after the garments had become physically one piece. However, a shirt was a single piece of cloth, so it was always singular.
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Why is shirt singular but pants plural?
A shirt is just pants for your top half, and that’s a singular object, even though there are holes for each of your independent arms in which to go. Either shirt should be called shirts, or pants should be called pant.
Why are pants always plural?
Think of items that are usually referred to in plural—often preceded by “pair of” or something similar, even when there is only one item: pliers, glasses, scissors, sunglasses, tweezers, etc. So, pants is a type of noun that is used only in its plural form, even when there is only one item being discussed.
Why are pants and jeans always 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.
Why do we say pants and not pant?
When trousers of a similar style became popular during the Restoration in England, they became known as pantaloons, Pantaloon being an Anglicization of Pantalone. Fashions changed over the years, but pantaloons continued to be the word used to refer to various types of trousers.
Why do we say pair of scissors?
We began calling an individual scissors a pair to emphasize the matched cutting blades. There’s precedent for it. Before we called them scissors, we called them shears, and pair was used with shears for about 100 years before scissors arrived on the scene.
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 shorts are plural?
We see the words ‘pants,’ ‘shorts,’ ‘trousers,’ ‘breeches’ and ‘breeks’ are all pluralized — probably because there are two sections to this piece of clothing.
Why is it a pair of shorts?
“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.
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.
Is shoes singular or plural?
For example, ‘shoes’ is the plural of ‘shoe’, which is singular. Singular means just one of something. Turn these singular words into plurals by adding ‘s’. 1.
What is the plural of deer?
deer. / (dɪə) / noun plural deer or deers.
What’s the plural for Elf?
elves
The plural of elf is elves, like many words that end in f in their singular form, from shelves and scarves to leaves and knives. Plural forms aren’t always predictable or stable: dwarf is usually dwarfs in the plural but sometimes dwarves is used, just as elfs is occasionally encountered.
Why do British 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.
Is the word socks singular or plural?
sock Definitions and Synonyms
| singular | sock |
|---|---|
| plural | socks |
Is Salmon singular or plural?
Word forms: salmonlanguage note: Salmon is both the singular and the plural form. A salmon is a large silver-colored fish.
Why is it called a pair of glasses?
One piece of glass that was held in place, often by squinting. So a pair of glasses is just that. A pair of binoculars, is also easy. In the early form, it was a telescope.
What is the singular word for deer?
Word forms: deerlanguage note: Deer is both the singular and the plural form.
What is the plural of mouse?
plural mice ˈmīs
What is the plural of potato?
potato. noun. po·ta·to | pə-ˈtā-tō plural potatoes.
Is glasses singular or plural?
Glasses is a ‘pair’ noun meaning that it’s always considered plural. Its pronoun is ‘they’ or ‘them’ and its verb is plural, in this case ‘have’. The correct sentences should be: “Have you seen my glasses?