"dungarees"

[Damien Hall]

Just received the following from Jon Lighter; I think it may have been
intended for the whole list, so I'm taking the liberty of forwarding it,
with further comments from me.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 09:39:02 -0500
Subject: Re: "dungarees"
From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
To: djh514 at york.ac.uk

Now that I think about it, I'd still be likely to call these work garments
"dungarees" rather than "jeans" - if I was trying to be precise.  The other
term I've heard (from about 1979, when a grad student friend began affecting
them) is "biballs" ( short form "bibs").  For some reason "biballs" doesn't
appeal to me.

DAMIEN:  Maybe because (at least when written down) it looks as if it should be syllabified 'bi-balls'?  At least, that was my reaction, never having heard or seen the term before this post, to my knowledge.  I suppose that follows the universal preference for onsets in phonology.  But, if you knew the word from its spoken form, that reasoning might not apply ...

And unless I'm crazy, in my childhood I even heard ordinary blue denim
trousers as well as ordinary corduroy trousers, as worn by tykes anyway,
referred to as "overalls."

JL

DAMIEN:  In BrE, 'overalls' (or singular: 'an overall') are literally single garments that cover all of the body usually covered by clothing:  in other words, trousers and top, with sleeves, combined.  We also have the term _boiler-suit_ for that - for me, anyway, _boiler-suit_ and _overall(s)_ are more-or-less synonymous, except that boiler-suits must be made out of heavy cotton or similar, whereas I think overalls could be made of anything provided that they were a close-fitting single garment, with sleeves, that covered the whole body.

An interesting 'lexical chain':  AmE 'jeans' can also be referred to as (AmE) 'dungarees';  BrE 'dungarees' can be referred to as AmE 'overalls', but neither AmE 'overalls' nor AmE 'dungarees' can be referred to as BrE 'jeans'.  I think that can be followed!  As a side-note, can AmE 'overalls' also be used to refer to BrE 'overalls' / 'boiler-suit'?

Damien

--
Damien Hall

University of York
Department of Language and Linguistic Science
Heslington
York YO10 5DD
UK

Tel. (office) 01904 432665
     (mobile) 0771 853 5634
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