Bra is a shortening of brassiere which is another word for the whole chest; of which someone only has one. As for panties, they are a diminutive form of pants, and a single pant only refers to one leg. The legs used to be tied on separately so you would need a pair of them to make pants.
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Why is the word pants plural?
From its inception in English, pants has been plural. It’s a shortened adaptation of pantaloons, those tight-like leg coverings worn by pirates and Shakespearean characters. And in those eras of 300 or 400 years ago, before pants were a single entity, pants were actually two separate garments.
How do you say bra in plural?
The plural form of bra is bras.
Is it a bra or a pair of bras?
Not because of the dual nature of the breasts themselves, but because the garment came in two parts and was laced together. That’s probably why the modern woman doesn’t put on “a pair of bras” in the morning. Now that the garment is in one piece, the pluralness isn’t there anymore.
Is undergarments plural or singular?
The plural form of undergarment is undergarments.
Why do we say a 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.
What is bra short for?
bra 1. / (brɑː) / noun. short for brassiere.
Why is a bra singular?
Bra is a shortened version of the word “brassiere,” which has its origin as a Norman word for a child’s undershirt. Hence it is singular. Panties are small pants. “Pants” are a shortened version of “pantaloons.”
What is bra in slang?
(slang) Female version of bro. noun. 5. 2.
Why is pants called a pair?
According to some, the phrase “pair of pants” harkens back to the days when what constituted pants—or pantaloons, as they were originally known—consisted of two separate items, one for each leg. They were put on one at a time and then secured around the waist.
Why is it a pair of glasses?
Ideally, you would refer to the object as them, since they are actually a pair of glass lenses. Using ‘it’ to refer to the object sounds odd considering the plural use of ‘glass’. Just remember, glasses are actually two glass lenses on a frame.
How many bras should a woman own?
The formula: depending on your lifestyle and personal preferences, you’ll need 4 everyday bras and 3 specialty bras. Here’s why: Consider how many of your bras you actually wear. There’s a chance that 90 percent of the time, you wear only a few bras on rotation.
What is plural for piano?
Plural. pianos. The plural form of piano; more than one (kind of) piano.
What is the plural of knickers?
1 knickers plural : knickerbockers.
What is the singular word for deer?
Word forms: deerlanguage note: Deer is both the singular and the plural form.
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 singular word for lice?
louse
A louse is a tiny insect that lives on the skin of animals and people. If you find a louse in your hair, you’ll have to treat your scalp to get rid of any of its friends that might still be lurking there. Since they tend to travel in groups, the plural form of louse, lice, is much more common than the singular.
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 plural of salmon?
noun. salm·on | ˈsa-mən plural salmon also salmons.