# Brits, if underpants are "pants", what are pants? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 26, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266 "2016-01-26T15:05:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/1 "2016-01-26T15:05:30Z")
I got the part about what I call underpants being “pants” or maybe “knickers”, but then what do you call what I would call pants: [https://www.google.com/search?q=chinos&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjS-4rU4MfKAhXKvoMKHVVJBpkQ\_AUICCgC&biw=1069&bih=755#tbm=isch&q=chinos+pants](https://www.google.com/search?q=chinos&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjS-4rU4MfKAhXKvoMKHVVJBpkQ_AUICCgC&biw=1069&bih=755#tbm=isch&q=chinos+pants) ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/2 "2016-01-26T15:06:44Z")
Trousers ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/3 "2016-01-26T15:17:00Z")
Trousers. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/4 "2016-01-26T15:17:25Z")
Well, nothing to see here folks, we can all go home. Thread’s over. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/5 "2016-01-26T15:19:22Z")
I dropped my trousers at the dry cleaner’s last week. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/6 "2016-01-26T15:20:25Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I dropped my trousers at the dry cleaner’s last week. I’m glad I wasn’t there. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/7 "2016-01-26T15:51:20Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I dropped my trousers at the dry cleaner’s last week. Were you wearing pants? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/8 "2016-01-26T15:58:16Z")
Follow up question: If pantyhose in the US are tights in the UK, what are US tights in the UK? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/9 "2016-01-26T15:58:54Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I dropped my trousers at the dry cleaner’s last week. I just now realized where “trou” in the phrase “dropped trou” came from. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/10 "2016-01-26T16:44:53Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Follow up question: > > If pantyhose in the US are tights in the UK, > what are US tights in the UK? Tights are tights and pantyhose are stockings. That mirrors the US, though, because I don’t know anyone who calls them pantyhose (::shudder:🙂 anymore. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/11 "2016-01-26T17:16:43Z")
“Britches” for “pants”? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/12 "2016-01-26T17:19:56Z")
Separated by a common language, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/13 "2016-01-26T17:26:24Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > “Britches” for “pants”? No no, breeches are what horse riders who wear long boots wear, or Mr Darcy. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/14 "2016-01-26T17:32:25Z")
My tasteless mother used to refer to harem pants (the baggy ones with cinched-in ankles) as “dysentery britches”. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/15 "2016-01-26T17:35:58Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > No no, breeches are what horse riders who wear long boots wear, or Mr Darcy. Weren’t those called “jodhpurs”? My relatives in the South still use the word “britches” but I think that’s for underwear (as in “shit yer britches”). I’m just being a pest, here. 😉 Please explain “Mr. Darcy” reference? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/16 "2016-01-26T17:43:29Z")
[Mr. Darcy](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rm25TE-hBUI/UUcqjGSZtNI/AAAAAAAAAKU/p6BqCAnXLMY/s1600/colin.jpg) (beloved breeches-wearing hero of Jane Austen’s _Pride and Prejudice_) ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/17 "2016-01-26T17:43:53Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > … My relatives in the South still use the word “britches” but I think that’s for underwear (as in “shit yer britches”)… “Britches” is also still used idiomatically (by those of a certain age) in “too big for your britches”, to mean cocky. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/18 "2016-01-26T17:47:17Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > “Britches” is also still used idiomatically (by those of a certain age) in “too big for your britches”, to mean cocky. My Mommy called me that just last week ☹ . Thanks for the Darcy info, **SpoilerVirgin**. I’m so illitrit. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/19 "2016-01-26T17:51:59Z")
If this thread goes on for much longer, someone is going to get kilt. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266/20 "2016-01-26T17:52:49Z")
“Trouser” can be used as a verb to mean “secrete away”. Usually money, and usually nefariously. eg I hear Simon Cowell trousered five grand from Susan Boyle for getting her on Britain’s Got Talent\* \*Allegedly [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-underpants-are-pants-what-are-pants/744266.md?page=2)