"dungarees"

[Alison Murie]

The Herts. boarding school to which we sent a couple of our kids in
'69, used the term "jeans" to apply to any trouser-like  apparel that
was tailored like blue jeans (patch rear pockets, side pockets with
nearly-horizontal openings, &c.) whether made of denim, corduroy ,
canvas or whatever.  This was puzzling to us, for whom "jeans" meant
made of jean or denim (a particular weave structure that accounts for
the different appearance of the front & back sides of the cloth.
Anyway, we wound up having to replace a good deal of each child's
wardrobe with suitably-cut  pants,  er, trews.
As for dungarees, the term has been familiar to me all my life
(childhood in the midwest).
AM

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