Been watching alot of BBC stuff lately and have come across the term “Y-Front”, as in Bottom’s “Weapon’s Grade Y-Fronts tour”
Took me a while but I finally figured out they are talking about underwear. Specifically men’s briefs that have a stitched Y on the front for erm…support.
So are they different than the “tighty whiteys” that American males wear?
How long has this term been in use? Do you use it alot? Usually I hear American boys refer to their skivvies as either “underwear”, “breifs” or “boxers”. Or not at all
Also is it a regional thing? I can’t say I’ve ever heard it other than when Rik Mayall and Ade Edmunson are concerned. Then again the only British stuff I’ve really been exposed to are bands, Python and Red Dwarf.
I think the ‘Y’ was an accident of the design to have a hole in them so you didn’t need to take them down to pee. (I could be wrong though)
I also think they were a 70s 80s thing. I see them occasionally, probably as a gimick, but I expect if most brits are like me they wear boxers or briefs.
I believe that this term specifically refers to what Americans call “Jockey shorts”. The Jockey brand of tighty-whiteys has a fly that is shaped like an upside-down Y. This is my husband’s preferred brand of underwear, and he happens to have an unopened package (pun unintended) of Jockey Classic underwear in his drawer–“3 PK BRIEF, 100% Cotton, Exclusive Y-Front ® Fly Design”. So, that’s probably where the term comes from. And, yes, they are sold in the US.
I’ve noticed that other brands of men’s brief underwear tend to have a different shaped fly–perhaps that’s why “Y-front” has not caught on as a popular term in the US.
I’ve only heard the term “Y-Fronts” on the Britcom “Are You Being Served?”
Here’s a piccy
Try not to get too excited.
It’s probably both a"Britishism" and a style. Not quite so common now I suspect but probably beneath those pin-striped city suits I’m sure lurk lots of pairs of y fronts. (along with silk women’s undies that some men like to wear-ahem, not me of course-but apparently David Beckham is one such fan of them)
Y- fronts are often used for a laugh in our comedy programmes.
BTW, In a tighty-whities guy and I accidentally bought some of these torture devices called “Y-fronts” once, not having been aware of the subtle difference. It took me a while before I figured out why on some days, I was constantly flopping into strange configurations that made sitting down a, ahem, pain.
That guy appears to be built like Action Man! Maybe that is the market for Y-fronts.
Has the derogatory description of something as being pants (used as an adjective) crossed the pond at all? I guess it wouldn’t work since pants doesn’t have the same connotations to Merkins?
Not to hijack, (well, O.K. with every intention of hijacking) but please explain this “pants”. What are the connotations/expanded meanings? Can you use it in a sentence?
I’ll just add that y-fronts are decidedly unfashionable these days. British males (self included!) have collectively woken up to the fact that they’re awful looking things.
They got a high profile in the 1990s, when a political cartoonist called Steve Bell made a good living out of drawing prime minister John Major in a pair of grey y-fronts (to quote this article) “on the outside of his trousers in a not-so-sophisticated copy of Superman”.
Nope. Americans don’t use it at all to my knowledge, and I don’t think many are even aware of the expression. Heck, I think most Americans are unaware that “pants” means “underpants” instead of “trousers” to the British.
The Japanese use “pants” (well, okay, “pantsu”) to refer to underpants, but do not to my knowledge use the word as a derogatory adjective.
Does anybody actually use it for that? In my entire life I’ve never whizzed by only unzipping my fly and snaking my who-ha thru that flap thingy. It’s easier to just unbutton your pants as well and pull your shorts down a bit.
[/hijack]
Rik, “Oh, so you’ve been going thru my Y-fronts have you?! I SUPPOSE YOU FANCY ME, IS THAT IT?!?!”
