# Underwear: Why "Jockey" Shorts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2001, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underwear-why-jockey-shorts/55919 "2001-02-26T14:17:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [February 26, 2001, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underwear-why-jockey-shorts/55919/1 "2001-02-26T14:17:54Z")
Who knows of the origin of the name Jockey Shorts? Were jockeys actually the first to wear them? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2001, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underwear-why-jockey-shorts/55919/2 "2001-02-26T14:58:28Z")
They’re manufactured by a company named “Jockey.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2001, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underwear-why-jockey-shorts/55919/3 "2001-02-26T14:58:30Z")
They’re manufactured by a company named “Jockey.” The same thing happened with “BVD.” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2001, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underwear-why-jockey-shorts/55919/4 "2001-02-26T14:59:44Z")
According to their [website](http://www.jockey.com/Templates/Corporate/corp_history_1934.tem): > [@](#): > > We changed the world’s underwear in 1934 when one of our designers created a strange, new kind of underwear called “the brief”. Unlike any underwear at that time, it provided men with “masculine support”, available at that time only through the use of an athletic supporter, sometimes called a “jock strap”. To discretely describe the function of the new-fangled underwear, we called it the Jockey (JOCK-ey) brief. Today, Jockey is a recognized trademark in over 120 countries. They were founded by a Wisconsin preacher as T.S. Cooper & Sons, selling socks to lumberjacks. It’s actually an interesting read… ---
**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:** [February 26, 2001, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underwear-why-jockey-shorts/55919/5 "2001-02-26T16:05:22Z")
Thanks, JJ. It’s nice to see that there are still some who can read life’s deeper meanings. As for you, Chuck, don’t be so literal. As JJ no doubt inferred, the name _Jockey shorts_ implies that the word _jockey_ is meant to be an adjective that modifies the noun _shorts_, and not just the name of the brand, though it is that as well. You never hear of _BVD shorts_, _Fruit-of-the-Loom shorts_, etc. In fact, hereabouts I never hear the word _shorts_ used to mean _underwear_ **unless** preceded by the word _Jockey_. And in those cases the specific brand is usually meant. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2001, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underwear-why-jockey-shorts/55919/6 "2001-02-26T16:54:06Z")
Interesting history. I had always assumed that they referred to the type of undergarment worn by dimunitive horse-racers. (I assume that boxer shorts are named after the trunks typically worn by pugilists, which they resemble). Does anyone know what actual jockeys wear under their silks (Julie Crone excepted)? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2001, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underwear-why-jockey-shorts/55919/7 "2001-02-26T18:32:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by javaman \* > \*\*Thanks, JJ. It’s nice to see that there are still some who can read life’s deeper meanings. > > As for you, Chuck, don’t be so literal. As JJ no doubt inferred, the name _Jockey shorts_ implies that the word _jockey_ is meant to be an adjective that modifies the noun _shorts_, and not just the name of the brand, though it is that as well. You never hear of _BVD shorts_, _Fruit-of-the-Loom shorts_, etc. > > In fact, hereabouts I never hear the word _shorts_ used to mean _underwear_ **unless** preceded by the word _Jockey_. And in those cases the specific brand is usually meant. \*\* I don’t want to take undeserved credit here. I went looking for the Jockey Inc. website first, because I figured the shorts were named for the company and I wanted to find out why the company was named Jockey. Only upon research did I find that the company was named after the shorts, not the other way around. Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, BVD is the initials of the founders of that company, Bradley, Voorhees, and Day. I now know more about underwear than I ever wanted to know…