Re: "a Pair of Panties" ?????

Le 01/07/2024 à 06:56, Hibou a écrit :

Le 01/07/2024 à 04:44, HenHanna a écrit :

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A pair of pants,    or    A pair of trousers
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                  ... ok because each Pair kinda looks like  [2 pipes].
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    ...but...
              "a Pair of Panties" ?????

 There appears to be a class of things that exist only in the plural - a pair of tweezers, scissors, pliers, sunglasses... trousers, underpants, knickers, tights... - things that bifurcate or are made up of two bits. I suppose the briefer garments inherited the plural from longer ones (though a few minutes' searching yields no support for this; briefs were apparently in use in Ancient Egypt). [...]

According to the OED, 'pantalon' (Italian-French) goes back to the comic character Pantaloon, who wore a kind of mediaeval onesie (~1592 onwards in English). With the sense of 'trousers', and usually in the plural, it goes back to ~1661. 'Panties' for menswear goes back to ~1845 ("now rare"), for women's underpants to ~1904.
"As she laid herself out to stride, the other fellows used to get a fine exhibition of absolutely naked girl from the waist down (for panties were the rare exception, and not the rule then)" - 'Sydney Sportsman', 1904/08/24.