Can Anybody Tell Me How The Different Words For UNDERWEAR Came About?

Question

Panties

Drawers

Briefs

Boxers

Bloomers

Underpants

Only a few off the top of my head, but if you know any others, do tell!! Also, what order (what century or decade) did each come out of?

And were longjohns an early version of what we know today as underwear?

Thanx!!

Answer 1

PANTIES originated 1835-45, as underpants or undershorts for women and children; diminuitive of pants (underpants). It's also derogatory for 'drawers for men'. It was first recorded in 1908. Pantyhose was first recorded 1963. Pantywaist "weak or effeminate male" is 1936, from a type of child's garment with short pants that buttoned to the waist of a shirt. Panty raid first attested in 1952. Other definitions for panties include: short light fitted underpants for women or girls (Informal) Mid-19th century pants (covers the buttocks, crotch and genitalia areas) ... legless underpants worn by women and girls; knickers ... 1908: a woman's or child's undergarment covering the lower trunk and made with closed crotch - usually used in plural. Today, panties are a form of underwear, usually light and snug-fitting, designed to be worn by women or girls in the area directly below the waist. Typical components include a waistband (often elastic), a crotch to cover the genital area (usually lined with absorbent material such as cotton), and a pair of leg openings (also often elastic). They have either no legs or in some cases very short ones. The term is usually used in the plural -- a single unit is a "pair of panties" -- though the singular "panty" is used in such derivatives as "panty liner".
Puns:
to get one's undies in a bundle - (informal) to panic or become unnecessarily upset over a trivial matter
Synonyms:
to get one's knickers in a twist
to get one's knickers in a knot
to get one's panties in a bunch

DRAWERS (drôrz) is an undergarment, long or short, for the lower part of the body, with a separate opening for each leg; underpants ... Etymology: < draw, because drawn on
drawers (1567) are garments that are pulled on. Drawing room (1642) is short for withdrawing room, into which ladies would go after dinner. Sorry, couldn't find anything else.

UNMENTIONABLES Etymology - Victorian Era euphemism, specifically the category of euphemism known as indirection (cf. privates, behind, sleep together). First intended meaning was "trousers", attested from 1823. Meaning "underwear" is recorded from 1910. Usage notes - Because of a euphemism's intentional ambiguity, the perceived meaning can drift. While at first, "unmentionables" referred with Victorian hyper-sensitivity to trousers, the functional meaning drifted expediently to underwear. Currently, examples can be found where it is clear the writer or speaker means to refer expressly to the genitals.

BRIEFS are a type of short, tight Y-shaped underwear and swimwear, as opposed to styles where the material extends down the legs. Tight briefs have been blamed for negatively affecting the sperm count, as they may interfere with the cooling of the testes. Briefs were first sold on 19 January 1935 by Coopers Inc., in Chicago, Illinois. They dubbed the new undergarment the "Jockey" because it offered a similar degree of support as the jockstrap (one style of which is also called Jock brief or Support briefs). In Britain the term "jockeys" has not caught on, and briefs are often referred to as "Y-fronts". The term derives from the inverted Y-shape formed by the seams at the front of the underpants which allows easy access to the penis for urination etc. The colloquialism is used even when the fly opening may differ in style, and not actually form the shape of the inverted letter "Y" fly on Cooper Jockey brand briefs. In Australia, briefs are often referred to as "jocks", but should not be confused with jockstraps (more specifically used by athletes) which expose the buttocks. In recent years, a hybrid called boxer briefs has become popular. Like boxers, they have short legs, but like briefs, they are made of elastic, snug-fitting material.
Prior to the 2000s, waistbands for briefs were made of hard elastic and caused stretch marks in people with obese skin. Today, waistbands are made of soft elastic and do not cause stretch marks. While most people have accepted this as progress in the fashion industry, there are people who purchase vintage briefs from the 1970s and 1980s from the Internet, because they prefer the feel of hard elastic over soft elastic. According to recent polls done in several English speaking countries, more men wear briefs than boxers. Sales of briefs increased dramatically from 2002 and onwards. The fact that they are available in different colors and cuts may be a factor in their renewed popularity. "Tighty-whities", or "Whitey-tighties", are common American nicknames for briefs. The name has entered the mainstream and is usually accepted as the name of briefs; the term is often derogatory in nature. In the late 1990s, briefs were seen as uncool, especially among U.S. teenagers. Bullying, such as wedgies and pantsing, may sometimes be the result of wearing briefs.

BOXERS, or BOXER SHORTS (also known as loose boxers or as simply boxers), are a type of underwear designed for wearing by men, but are also worn by women. The term is used in English since 1944 for all-around-elastic shorts, so named after the shorts worn by pugilists, for whom unhindered leg movement ('footwork') is almost as important as the completely free arm movement of the barechested fighters. In 1925, Jacob Golomb, founder of Everlast, designed elastic-waist trunks to replace the leather-belted trunks then worn by boxers. These trunks, now known as "boxer trunks", immediately became famous, but were later eclipsed by the popular Jockey-style briefs beginning in the late 1930s. Around 1947, boxer shorts started to gain in popularity again. The two styles, briefs and boxer shorts, had varying ratios of sales for the following forty years, with strong regional and generational preferences. Currently boxer shorts are increasing in popularity due to fashion, comfort, and health benefits. In more recent decades, boxer shorts got a fashion boost in 1984 when English model and musician Nick Kamen stripped to white boxers in a 1950s style "Launderette" in a Levi's commercial.

BLOOMERS is a word which has been applied to several types of divided women's garments for the lower body at various times. The original bloomers were an article of women's clothing invented by Elizabeth Smith Miller but popularized by Amelia Bloomer in the early 1850s (hence the name, a shortening of "Bloomer suit"). They were long baggy pants narrowing to a cuff at the ankles (worn below a skirt), intended to preserve Victorian decency while being less of a hindrance to women's activities than the long full skirts of the period. They were worn by a few women in the 1850s, but were widely ridiculed in the press, and failed to become commonly accepted. These early bloomers were partly an attempt to adapt young girls' short skirts and pantalettes to adult women's attire, and were partly influenced by middle-eastern clothing styles (or what was thought to be middle-eastern styles) — hence the name "Syrian costume". The word "bloomers" was sometimes used for the wearers of the garments, rather than the garments themselves.
In 1909, fashion designer Paul Poiret attempted to popularize harem pants worn below a long flaring tunic, but this attempted revival of fashion bloomers under another name, did not catch on.

UNDERPANTS - 1931, from under + pants. Drove out drawers, knickers in this sense. A lower undergarment, typically having short or no legs, worn next to the skin under other clothing. An undergarment that covers the body from the waist no further than to the thighs; usually worn next to the skin.

LONG UNDERWEAR, often called LONG JOHNS, is a style of two-piece underwear with long sleeves and long pantlegs that is normally worn during cold weather. Modern long underwear has largely supplanted the traditional union suit. It is usually made from fabric with a box-weave texture, although some varieties are also made from flannel. The type known as "thermal underwear" is made from two-ply fabric, which uses trapped body heat to insulate against cold air. Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford has been credited with inventing thermal underwear. According to Michael Quinion, "John" may be a reference to boxer John L. Sullivan, who was known to wear a similar garment in the ring. However, this explanation is uncertain and the word's origin is ultimately unknown. Many Nova Scotians credit the term "Long Johns" to John Stanfield. Son of Charles Stanfield, brother of Frank Stanfield, and co-founder of Stanfield's Limited located in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Can Anybody Tell Me How The Different Words For UNDERWEAR Came About?
Panties

Drawers

Briefs

Boxers

Bloomers

Underpants

Only a few off the top of my head, but if you know any others, do tell!! Also, what order (what century or decade) did each come out of?

And were longjohns an early version of what we know today as underwear?

Thanx!!

Answer 3

Panty Waist Origin

Answer 4

Old Fashioned Undergarments

Answer 5

Panties:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=panties
Drawers:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=drawers&searchmode=none
Briefs:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=briefs&searchmode=none
Boxers--probably from boxing trunks
Bloomers:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=bloomers&searchmode=none
Underpants--from where they are worn
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=underpants&searchmode=none
Long johns may be from boxer John L. Sullivan
http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Long_underwear
Scivvies:
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ski2.htm

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Answer 6

underkrackers,trollies,duds,kecks, all terms fondly used and originated in the 21st century(you must be real bored)