Knickers (was: They're as self-centered as we are!)

[Wilson Gray]

FWIW, IMO. "underpants" does seem more feminine because, IME, it's
often used as a pswaydo-euphemism for "panties," which ceased being
used as a term for masculine clothing with the demise of the
pantywaist. In the print medium, seem like to me, "briefs" is used
about equally often for both men's underwear and women's underwear.
Except for so-called "boy shorts," "shorts" is masculine-only, WRT
underwear. As a term for outerwear, the word swings both ways.

-Wilson

On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 11:24 AM, Charles Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Charles Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Knickers (was: They're as self-centered as we are!)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here in America, does "underpants" seem more feminine than "underwear" or "shorts" or "briefs"?
>
> --Charlie
>
>
> ---- Original message ----
>>Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 14:47:27 +0000
>>From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> (on behalf of Damien Hall <djh514 at YORK.AC.UK>)
>>
>>Just a note on a branching topic: _knickers_ is the standard BrE locution only for (women's) 'panties', not for (men's) 'underpants'.
>>
>>Damien
>>
>>--
>>Damien Hall
>>
>>University of York
>>Department of Language and Linguistic Science
>>Heslington
>>YORK
>>YO10 5DD
>>UK
>
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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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