# Hairstyle poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144 "2010-04-23T20:09:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/1 "2010-04-23T20:09:58Z")
What do you call a hairstyle, most often sported by little girls or by women when exercising, where the hair is divided into two parts and secured with elastic bands or ribbons? Assume the hair is not braided or plaited. One of my fellow misplaced Yanks has told me she’s never heard these called what I call them, and I’d like to see how this turns out 😛 ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/2 "2010-04-23T20:13:54Z")
I always call it pigtails if it’s two on the sides, or a ponytail if it’s just one in the back. ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/3 "2010-04-23T20:14:09Z")
Pigtails are two, ponytails are one, and I have never heard of bunches. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/4 "2010-04-23T20:26:45Z")
Pigtails are when there are two, a ponytail is when there is just one. I’ve heard them called bunches, but never by someone from the US, so I don’t know if that’s in use anywhere here. ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/5 "2010-04-23T20:29:01Z")
Agree with the above. Pigtails = two, Pony = one. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/6 "2010-04-23T20:42:19Z")
I voted for ponytails (looks like I’m the only one), but actually I think I’d call them pigtails. If they’re braided, I’d call them braids. Never “bunches,” though. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/7 "2010-04-23T20:45:10Z")
Pigtails. Though I don’t associate them with exercise–when I think of exercise, I think ponytails. That is, just one tail. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/8 "2010-04-23T21:14:52Z")
No no no, pigtails are braids, ponytails are non-braids. At least in Montana, when I was growing up. -k- ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/9 "2010-04-23T21:19:38Z")
> [@Karen\_Lingel](#): > > No no no, pigtails are braids, ponytails are non-braids. > > At least in Montana, when I was growing up. > > -k- I’ve never ever heard it that way. You could have braided pigtails, or a braided ponytail, though. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/10 "2010-04-23T21:23:16Z")
There’s a smattering of “pigtails are braids” dancing around in the back of my mind. I think when I was little, we called the hairdo with two “dogears” and the hairstyle with one “ponytail”. Also two braids were “pigtails” and one braid was … a braid. Nowadays I hear girls say “pigtails” for what we called “dogears”. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/11 "2010-04-23T21:29:15Z")
Pigtails are two, one on each side of the head, like Pippi Longstocking. Ponytails are when all the hair is pulled back into one piece. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/12 "2010-04-23T21:54:57Z")
> [@Karen\_Lingel](#): > > No no no, pigtails are braids, ponytails are non-braids. This here. ---
**Author:** ![khere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@khere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/khere)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/13 "2010-04-23T22:05:16Z")
Agreed with those who say pigtails are two, ponytail is one. A ‘braid’ in Australia is only the more stylised hairstyle where the hair is woven from the head, gathering more as you go along (not sure how to explain it better than that!) whereas having just three ‘ribbons’ of hair woven together is a ‘plait’. So we would call it ‘plaits’ if a girl had two pigtails were done in the style which I think a lot of you Dopers call a braid. Just to throw some more hair terminology out there! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/14 "2010-04-23T22:09:19Z")
Interesting. What you call a braid, we’d call a French braid in the US. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/15 "2010-04-23T22:35:10Z")
One plain tail in the back is a ponytail. Two braids (plaits) on the sides are pigtails. The style described in the OP was called dogears in my family, but I’ve never heard anyone else call them that until this thread. For what it’s worth, I live in Kentucky. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/16 "2010-04-23T22:48:40Z")
Folks, if the two tails are not on the sides (say, a part in the middle, but both tails pulled straight back), are they not pigtails? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/17 "2010-04-23T23:50:43Z")
Where I come from if it’s braided it’s a pigtail and if it’s not braided it’s a ponytail regardless of how many bunches there are. ---
**Author:** ![pabstist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@pabstist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pabstist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/18 "2010-04-24T00:55:41Z")
hummer handles ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/19 "2010-04-24T03:38:54Z")
I always thought pigtails need to be braided. Pigs have tails like corkscrews, which resemble braids. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144/20 "2010-04-24T03:55:48Z")
either pigtails or ponytails. I think pigtails is more accurate. I think it can be really cute. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairstyle-poll/537144.md?page=2)