"Slacks" (UNCLASSIFIED)

W Brewer brewerwa at GMAIL.COM
Thu Oct 25 03:09:44 UTC 2012


WB: <<<:_Shorts_ is ambiguous, meaning either short pants or underpants
(boxers).>>>
WG: <<<Yes. But I prefer "underwear" to "underpants.">>>
WB: _Underwear_ for me has a broader semantic field, including undershirt;
maybe socks, "suspenders and a brar".
BTW, why this sudden interest in dialect differences? :-)
WB: It all suddenly started in 1961, in the 8th grade, when I was accused
of having a Southern accent. :-(   Bolling AFB was having its wings clipped
and the old man had been transferred to Hickam. :-)   I was just getting
used to that pidgin, when we got transferred to Otis. 8^O  One thing led to
another, and I suddenly wrote _Mapping_Taiwanese_ in 2008. They got 50
different words for thumb. So I retired. 8^()

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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