Help with etymology of: Daks

Factual Questions
1

Daks is an Australian word for trousers and is used in exactly the same context as trousers (eg work daks, suit daks), jeans (daks) or bottoms (trackie daks, pyjama daks).

It is slang and in common use is Australia.

I am interested to know where this word comes from: Type of cloth used long ago? Particular style of trousers that was once very popular? Something else?

Does any one know? Any ideas?

(also while searching for an answer on this I read that New Zealanders take daks to mean underpants)

2

A google of “daks,” “australia” and “etymology” gave me this:

"Daks is a UK luxury label.

Originally it was men’s tailoring, then ready-to-wear men’s clothing. Later it branched out into women’s clothing, then accessories.

In 1934 Daks introduced the first self-supporting trousers [no braces/suspenders, no belt].

Daks became a generic term for trousers.

Dakking, the sudden pulling down of pants, can also be called ‘de-bagging’."

3

Perhaps it comes from DAKS Simpson, a British clothing manufacturer that apparently ships worldwide and has been around since the 1890s.

Edited: Dammit…late again…

4

Thank you. I must try harder with my google searching. :smack:

5

OED has more:

The company name Daks apparently came from Da(d) + (sla)cks.

That last cite from Private Eye is from the Barry McKenzie comic strip, written by the Australian writer Barry Humphries (Dame Edna), dealing with the adventures of an Aussie in London. This shows the word had entered Aussie slang by at least 1970.

6

“thunderbags”. < snerk > :smiley: