I’m amazed. A pigtail to me is a braid, and I never even thought this might be a regionalism. I mean, the whole point is that pig’s tails are curly. I always thought it was silly that curled pony tails (like Cindy Brady) weren’t called pigtails too.
And a braid is when there are three only strands. With the more complicated version requiring more than three sections, I’d call it plaited. And the first 40 or 50 times someone mentioned a “weave” to me, I thought they were referring to a super-complicated plait.
And unbraided, with the elastic near the head is a ponytail. Unbraided with several elastics at intervals going down is a mane set.
I’m different from all y’all. To me, it’s ponytails if they’re long, and pigtails if they’re short. Because ponies have long tails and pigs have short tails.
Two - pigtails
One - pony tail
Braided hair - two of them -braids, one of them - a braid
Military brat, spent time in TX, CA, WA, NC, FL and never heard anything but the above.
Pigtails. Which is leading in the poll at the moment
She said that pigtails are braided and she’d never heard anyone call two unbraided tails “pigtails” - if not braided, they’re ponytails. The only other native English speaker nearby happened to be British and said they’re called “bunches” and we ex-colonials clearly didn’t know what we were talking about
For me, one gathered in the back is a ponytail. Two braided is pigtails. Two gathered is ponytails and one braided is a braid.
Google does not seem to agree. When I type in pigtails and hit image, the first image is two ponytails. The second is what I’d call pigtails. And it shows about two thirds unbraided.
I’m all California except for about five years in Ohio. Grew up in So Cal and lived as an adult in North Cal.
Ponytail = one
Pigtails = two (piggytails if the wearer or the speaker is younger than about 10)
Three strands of hair woven together = plait/plaits
More complicated version = braid/braids
I use ‘pigtails’ and ‘bunches’ interchangeably to mean two (or I suppose more than two, but you don’t see that much) sections of hair in bobbles.
A ponytail is just one bunch of hair.
A plait is three or more strands braided together, or plaits if there are more than one. French plaits are plaits where you add little bits of hair as you go along, resulting in the plait starting high on the back of the head and being held close to the scalp.
I know the word braid, but wouldn’t really use it. I agree it sounds more fancy.
If someone described someone’s hair being “in bunches” I would have no idea what they were talking about. I’d probably assume large parts of it had fallen out and the rest was sort of clumping in tufts.
I voted “Something else”. They were called “doggie ears” when I was growing up. I have heard them called “pigtails”, but to my mind a pigtail must be braided. I have also occasionally heard this hairstyle called “two ponytails” or “a ponytail on each side”. I believe “bunches” is a Britishism; I’ve encountered it in books but never in conversation in the US.
I’m turning 50 in one month:eek: and call them pigtails when braided, but when not braided–“dog ears”. This is from Memphis in the 60s/70s. A single one is a ponytail.
