Why are pants, trousers, shorts, and jeans plural in English? Rob in Barnstable, Massachusetts, asks about garments that are now usually one piece, unlike socks. The plural goes back to older two-legged garments made as separate pieces fastened at...
The slang phrase XYZ, meaning “examine your zipper,” has been used since at least the 1960s as a subtle tipoff to let someone know his zipper is down. A variant, XYZ PDQ, means “examine your zipper pretty darn quick.” Other surreptitious suggestions...
The fabric called denim originated in the town of Nimes, France, hence the name. The fabric known as jean, originally from Genoa, Italy, was popular long before Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis and teamed up in 1873 to make durable work trousers using...
Is that a winklehawk in your pants? A listener shares this word for those L-shaped rips in your trousers, from an old Dutch term for “a carpenter’s L-shaped tool.” And Grant has a new favorite term, motherwit, meaning “the...
jeggings n.pl.— «The latest fashion buzz word doing the rounds is “jeggings.” Unfortunately, the idea of a buzz word precedes the item instantly giving them a bad name, but I don’t think you should let that put you off...
mom jean n.— «Avoid at all cost, what is known as the “mom jean,” that pancake flat butt that comes from high-waisted but tapered-leg jeans. Timmins recommends a full-leg trouser style, which is more forgiving and not as tight...
