# "Pants" is British for "panties" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 2004, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576 "2004-09-08T01:05:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/21 "2004-09-08T23:25:16Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > removes her pants That would be, “removes her panties” (or knickers). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/22 "2004-09-08T23:38:12Z")
Most Brits are, I think, reasonably familiar with this particular Atlantic language discrepancy and will internally translate on the fly, particularly if the speaker is known to be American. There are a few occasions when ‘pants’ means trousers in Britain; ‘jogging pants’, for example (although they might more commonly be called ‘jogging bottoms’. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/23 "2004-09-08T23:56:41Z")
I’ve always liked the saying, "Don’t get your knickers in a twist. " Knickers in the U.S. are pants (trousers) that end mid-calf. In the earlier part of the last century, boys under a certain age were pretty much required to wear them. To some it was quite a big deal to graduate to long pants. Golfers used to like wearing them too, the gaudier the better. I’m sure that’s a fad I’m sure many folks were glad finally passed. Here’s another few clothing terms: Sweater vest=jumper Jumper=Sleeveless dress usually worn over a blouse Dress=frock Blouse=? Non-clothing terms: Wrench=spanner Radio=wireless Subtly making fun of someone=taking the mickey out of someone ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/24 "2004-09-09T00:06:35Z")
Sportswear: Apparently sports people in the USA wear a “uniform”, as if they were in the armed forces. In Blighty, they wear a “kit”, the top half of which is a “jersey”. In Ireland and Australia, this is also known as a “guernsey” (pronounced “gansey”). ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/25 "2004-09-09T00:08:38Z")
Americans should be very careful when discussing their fannys too 😃 (or fanny packs :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![Arch\_Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@Arch\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arch_Trout)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/26 "2004-09-09T00:55:00Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Most Brits are, I think, reasonably familiar with this particular Atlantic language discrepancy and will internally translate on the fly, particularly if the speaker is known to be American. > > There are a few occasions when ‘pants’ means trousers in Britain; ‘jogging pants’, for example (although they might more commonly be called ‘jogging bottoms’. **Jogging Pants** NO, never, ever ever. Anyone using that is speaking “Yank”. And while we’re at it, why does America have an aversion to the letter **u**? Color, honor etc And why the fascination with **z** Globalization, customize etc etc 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/27 "2004-09-09T01:07:22Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > In Blighty, they wear a “kit”, the top half of which is a “jersey”. In Ireland and Australia, this is also known as a “guernsey” (pronounced “gansey”). I’ve also heard “kit” used to describe added-on accessories on cars. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/28 "2004-09-09T01:26:48Z")
You forgot ‘smalls’. Kaks (keks) in the north of England are trousers, I mean pants. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/29 "2004-09-09T01:36:17Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > Sportswear: > > In Blighty, they wear a “kit”, the top half of which is a “jersey”. In Ireland and Australia, this is also known as a “guernsey” (pronounced “gansey”). I’ve only ever heard the terms \*footy jumper \* or _footy jersey_. I do hear the word “guernsey”, but generally in the context of the phrase _to have a guernsey_, meaning to have a look at or inspect something. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/30 "2004-09-09T02:15:21Z")
> [@Arch Trout](#): > > **Jogging Pants** And while we’re at it, why does America have an aversion to the letter **u**? > Color, honor etc > > And why the fascination with **z** > Globalization, customize etc etc > > 😕 IIRC it’s because Mr. Webster, of Webster’s Dictionary fame, was one of those spelling reform types who surface from time to time, and put some of his spelling improvements into his dictionary, which then was copied wholesale by other American dictionary publishers. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/31 "2004-09-09T03:33:26Z")
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were home to quite the spelling reform movement. Another influential spelling reformist was Melville Dewey of the Dewey Decimal System, who went by Melvil Dui for a while. He was also heavy into metric reform, which is why if you buy an old library card catalog cabinet with the intention of putting your recipe cards in it or something, it will not fit. He promulgated these hobbies of his by training new librarians and then selling his Dewey Decimal System and library furniture to a then-guaranteed market. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/32 "2004-09-09T08:52:11Z")
> [@Arch Trout](#): > > It’s all true. > Pants and underpants are the same thing here. In South Australia at least, the word ‘pants’ can be used interchangeably to denote jeans/slacks or underwear. Generally we’d say ‘undies’, and leave ‘pants’ to mean the outerwear, but it’s not a hard-and-fast rule. Likewise ‘daks’. 9 times out of 10 it’ll mean underwear, but that 10th time… let’s just say that the more I deal with folks from overseas, the more I begin to suspect that you’d have to be born here to be able to instantly know what the heck we’re talking about some of the time. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/33 "2004-09-09T08:53:48Z")
Does no one call them gruds anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/34 "2004-09-09T09:07:11Z")
I’ve never heard the term, Calm Kiwi. Sounds like a name for ‘undies in dire need of a wash’ though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/35 "2004-09-09T09:09:36Z")
Well I’m sure you have probably met a Kiwi bloke or two (being an Aussie), don’t they seem like the types to call them gruds! I luv them really. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/36 "2004-09-09T09:12:15Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > There is one context in which the American use of “pants” is closer to the British–the expression “getting into her pants” And just to be contrary, we would say “getting into her knickers” 😉 What’s the American for pulling? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/37 "2004-09-09T09:20:57Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I’ve also heard “kit” used to describe added-on accessories on cars. ‘Nice piece of kit’ can mean just about anything, from fishing tackle to telescopes to… you get the idea 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/38 "2004-09-09T09:25:26Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > I just learned that from “Coupling”. So if a British person asks to see your pants, don’t be bewieldered, be _offended_! If Steve frim Coupling asked to see my pants I’d show him so fast that it’d create a sonic boom. ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/39 "2004-09-09T09:50:58Z")
So what does “scratter” mean? I asked this elsewhere and got no answer. I tried looking it up in British slang dictionaries and they couldn’t find it. It was used in a post to describe Bush,so I much doubt it was complimentary. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2004, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/40 "2004-09-09T10:06:21Z")
I’d never heard of ‘scratter’, but Google suggests it’s a local term equivalent to Kev, Scally, [Chav](http://www.chavscum.co.uk/), [Townie](http://www.rsod.co.uk/rsod/cargo/Townies.htm),… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576.md?page=3)