# "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:** 4
**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 10, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/61 "2004-09-10T00:26:34Z")
We’d always call football (soccer) clothing a strip. Football strip. Rugby kit. Also call our underpants “trolleys” on occasion. Which is always funny when you read the signs at the airport: “No trolleys beyond this point” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/62 "2004-09-10T00:47:06Z")
**seosamh;** Emma Thompson did a great American accent in a movie I really liked called JUDAS KISS. I think Thompson is right up there with Meryl Streep. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/63 "2004-09-10T08:11:41Z")
**seosamh** , He sure wasn’t Dick Van Dyke! He was a hairy sort of dude with requisite beer gut and butt crack and all. I’m not sure I actually managed to do that quote correctly, it took three "huh?"s to get anything even vaguely intelligible to me out of the man. The fact that he looked extremely pleased when he mumbled this didn’t help me translate either. I don’t have any trouble at all with BBC news types (even whatsername the Scottish weather girl) but when local accents come into play I’m doomed. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/64 "2004-09-10T08:39:21Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > More Britspeak questions- courtesy of Are You Being Served? > > 1- What is “Knackered”? Sorry if it’s spelled wrong, but as I recall in on AYBS episode, they talked of sending Mr. Grainger off to the “knacker’s yard” or to be “knackered”. I believe that horses that were too old to work anymore used to be sent to the knackers yard to be butchered. To suggest that someone should be sent off to the Knackers yard would be to suggest that they are past it/useless. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/65 "2004-09-10T10:23:07Z")
I have always thought that “knackered” comes from “fit to be knackered” ie at the end of one’s strength, and if one were a horse one would be on the way to the knacker’s yard (do these still exist?) to be turned into glue. I think the confusion comes from the word “knacker” which is a perjoritive word for gypsy - but it’s an Irish word (the english equivelent would be “pikey”) so I don’t think that’s where it comes from. ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/66 "2004-09-10T10:38:21Z")
I refer you all to post #51,where I linked to M-Ws online definition of Knacker. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/67 "2004-09-10T10:49:28Z")
And I refer you to [this cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Travellers) where you will see the following: \* > [@](#): > > Though often called Tinkers, such a term though widely used in the past is now seen as politically incorrect and discouraged from official usage. Another old term used was Knacker, which again is seen as offensive. Tinker and knacker were trades once commonly followed by Travellers. - ---
**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 10, 2004, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/68 "2004-09-10T10:53:45Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > ‘Togs’ is also a (not-so-localised?) generic word for ‘clothes’. Togs is Kiwi for swimsuit… “grab ya togs we are off to the beach” or would be if it wasn’t so flippin cold. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/69 "2004-09-10T10:55:55Z")
So, what kind of temperatures you got there at the moment then? ---
**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 10, 2004, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/70 "2004-09-10T11:00:10Z")
It has been the coldest winter in 30-ish years, but this week it is getting Autumnish. Was 19 today. YAY 🙂 Still too flipping cold for swimming though. Roll on summer! ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/71 "2004-09-10T11:02:10Z")
In Devon, the local term for pulling is “trapping”. As in, “he’s on the trap”, or “I trapped last night”. Horrible. Also, I heard something thing on the news yesterday (can’t find a site, unfortunately) about Fillipeno students at Newcastle University being sent on a course in “Geordie” as they are having so much trouble with the local accent. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/72 "2004-09-10T11:04:16Z")
Hmmm… We used to use “to trap off with someone” if two people ended up snogging. Oh, and **Calm Kiwi** - ya big wuss! 19C is practically summer weather over here! ---
**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 10, 2004, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/73 "2004-09-10T11:06:44Z")
But it has been cold honest!!! Hard to trap or pull or…?, when you have been buried in jumpers for months so I forget what we call it 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/74 "2004-09-10T11:25:23Z")
I’m intrigued by the use of ‘Knacker’ as similar to ‘Tinker’. I’d certainly never heard of it before. Google suggests it’s particular to Ireland, and perhaps southern Ireland at best, and some sites suggest it’s slightly archaic - can any Irish dopers help inform us? In any case, it don’t see that ‘knackered’ is necessarily offensive as a result - I’ve never heard a claim that the verb ‘to tinker’ has anything do do with travellers, either. ---
**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 10, 2004, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/75 "2004-09-10T11:35:50Z")
I don’t know how regional this is, but ‘cacker’(sp?), ‘gyppo’ and ‘pikey’ are other colloquial terms for travelling folk around these parts. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/76 "2004-09-10T11:58:13Z")
When I was a puppy we didn’t “pull” birds, we “got off” with them in the hope of at least “fingers and tops” and with any luck a “jump”. Of course one would settle for a “nosh”. You just hoped that that said doris wasn’t “gopping” and didn’t “munt” too badly. You might have to use a “johnny” of “dunkie”, but this was before AIDS, and after the “mick” so you could usually go “bareback” If you didn’t get off with any “skirt” you would simply have to console yourself with a “J Arthur” on your “Jack” or indeed “todd”. THis was all a long time ago… ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/77 "2004-09-10T12:10:55Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I don’t know how regional this is, but ‘cacker’(sp?), ‘gyppo’ and ‘pikey’ are other colloquial terms for travelling folk around these parts. Gyppo and pikey are common. Never heard of cacker, can’t find anything on Google, and it’s not in my “Big Book of Being Rude” (seriously 😃 ). So either it’s very regionally-specific, or you’ve spelt it very wrong 😉 ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/78 "2004-09-10T12:13:05Z")
> [@](#): > > When I was a puppy we didn’t “pull” birds, we “got off” with them in the hope of at least “fingers and tops” and with any luck a “jump”. Of course one would settle for a “nosh”. You just hoped that that said doris wasn’t “gopping” and didn’t “munt” too badly. You might have to use a “johnny” of “dunkie”, but this was before AIDS, and after the “mick” so you could usually go “bareback” You know…sometimes trying to understand people in this country is just pants. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/79 "2004-09-10T12:30:05Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > When I was a puppy we didn’t “pull” birds, we “got off” with them in the hope of at least “fingers and tops” and with any luck a “jump”. Of course one would settle for a “nosh”. You just hoped that that said doris wasn’t “gopping” and didn’t “munt” too badly. You might have to use a “johnny” of “dunkie”, but this was before AIDS, and after the “mick” so you could usually go “bareback” > > If you didn’t get off with any “skirt” you would simply have to console yourself with a “J Arthur” on your “Jack” or indeed “todd”. > > THis was all a long time ago… Well when I ‘go on the lash’ this weekend I will be unable to go ‘sharking’ for talent because im now being measured for my ball and chain, and ‘our lass’ wouldn’t be best pleased if i was on the pull ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576/80 "2004-09-10T12:44:16Z")
> [@One And Only Wanderers](#): > > Well when I ‘go on the lash’ this weekend I will be unable to go ‘sharking’ for talent because im now being measured for my ball and chain, and ‘our lass’ wouldn’t be best pleased if i was on the pull I share your pain. I wil be going out “on the shant” for a few “brittneys” followed by a few “gold watches”, and maybe a “ruby” to follow. I might even indulge in a bit of “gianluca” at the match on sunday, against the “carrot-crunchers” However I won’t be able to “chat-up” any “muff” as I have a “trouble and strife” indoors and if I puled a “roaster” I would be sentenced to a life of being “borassic” after her “brief” had “dandoed” my finances. Not to mention the CSA for the “bin-lids”. In short I would be “donald-ducked”, She’d cut my “hampton” off too! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pants-is-british-for-panties/263576.md?page=5)