I've got a question?

[Deanna Jeanine]

Why do we call them a "pair of panties" when there is only one? Just being silly on this wet and muggy Monday!

[Karren H]

If it wasn't so hot and muggy... I'd have a witty reply! :D

[NicoleScott]

Reminds me of this one:
Teacher: Johnny, is "pants" singular or plural?
Johnny: Singular at the top, plural at the bottom.

[Tara D. Rose]

I sure don't know the answer to that one, but for whatever reason "they" are called a pair of panties(plural), then I wonder why a bra(singular) that holds two darlings is called "a bra"? We have a pair of pants, a pair of ear rings, a pair of sunglasses, a pair of shoes, a pair of shirts,? Wouldn't that be 2 individual shirts?
I have seen in some lingerie ads, "sexy bra with matching PANTY". But to me, it just sounds sexy to call them panties. Another good question would be why do they call a thong a thong?

[Stephanie47]

A PAIR of boobs in A BRA. Makes perfect sense to me.


I sure don't know the answer to that one, but for whatever reason "they" are called a pair of panties(plural), then I wonder why a bra(singular) that holds two darlings is called "a bra"?

[RADER]

Like asking how many Gooses make a geese. LOL
Rader

[Kate Simmons]

I'm guessing because we put a pair of legs in them? I just assumed that and never really looked for two panties in a package that said a pair.:heehee::)

[BobbieBrooks]

Women first wore underwear below the waist during the French Revolution. In the 18th century, a Parisian police ordinance reportedly required women who appeared on stage to wear shorts. However, it is Cancan dancers who are credited with stitching the two leggings together, thereby creating super short panties that revealed more thigh. Per Google search. Question is then,

What was worn before the French Revolution??? LOL

BobbieB

[NathalieX66]

That still doesn't answer why we call pants a 'pair of pants'.

[Cynthia Anne]

Hot, DRY and muggy! So now I'm gonna go out and buy me a pair of blouses to wear with my pant! Hugs!

[Bree-asaurus]

Maybe we just have a faulty language? Be glad we don't speak Russian ;)

[Vickie_CDTV]

Pants/trousers and panties once came in two parts, hence a "pair" of pants (one for each side), not unlike a pair of stockings (one for each leg.) A bra is singular because they always came in one piece.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pai1.htm

[Diana Bain]

I bet "Cliff Clavin" knows the answer.:D

[Victoria P]

I call them knickers but I agree with your comment and cannot fathom exactly why knickers(panties) or male underwear are referred to as a 'pair'
Hmmm

[Annie D]

Bra is short for brasierre and yes I would think that pants originated from a skirt type garment like a kilt and that the inseam was sewn together to form two legs, plural, and thus came pantalons (sp ?) and then pants. Do you notice that men wearing britches in the west wore a belt outside the pants well below the top of the garment and the European style of pants were fastened in the back with some type of lacing. I would imagine that the sewing of the inseams were because of the chaffing when riding a horse. No wonder Mel Gibson was so "out of sorts" with his behavior after making Braveheart.

[NicoleScott]

Allen Sherman, a satirical songwriter/performer (can't call him a singer...haha) from decades ago, had the same thoughts about this and other peculiarities of the language. Note the last couple of lines of "One Hippopottami":

One hippopotami cannot get on a bus,
Because one hippopotami is two hippopotamus.
And if you have two goose, that makes one geese.
A pair of mouse is mice. A pair of moose is meese.
A paranoia is a bunch of mental blocks.
And when Ben Casey meets Kildaire, that's called a paradox.
When two minks fall in love, with all their heart and soul,
You'll find the plural of two minks is one mink stole.
Singulars and plurals are so different, bless my soul.
Has it ever occurred to you that the plural of "half" is "whole"?
A bunch of tooth is teeth. A group of foot is feet.
And two canaries make a pair--they call it a parakeet.
A paramecium is not a pair.
A parallelogram is just a crazy square.
Nobody knows just what a paraphernalia is.
And what is half a pair of scissors, but a single sciz?
With someone you adore, if you should find romance,
You'll pant, and pant once more, and that's a pair of pants!

[Cheryl T]

My wife refuses to call them panties and says it's awkward. They are underwear in her mind.
So every time we go out and see a sale sign or VS has an advertisement and uses "panties" I always point it out and laugh 'cause she gets irked.

[Deanna Jeanine]

I bet "Cliff Clavin" knows the answer.:D

And Woody wouldn't understand the answer. Where is the great Postman when we need him??? LMAFO!!!

[Jilmac]

That same question was asked by George Carlin many years ago, he also asked why a bra is singular when it has two cups?

[Barbara_Jean]

This reminds me of Gallaher: "Why do they call them Apartments, when they're all stuck together?" "Why do you drive on a Parkway, but you Park in a Driveway?" " How can you have a Pair of Panties, but just ONE Bra??"

[Cheryl T]

Reminds me of the Woody Allen movie "Everything you wanted to know about Sex".
In one scene they are trying to capture a giant breast that's roaming the countryside. The sheriff has a giant bra and is asked why it has two cups.
He responds... "In my experience, these things travel in pairs"....

[Foxglove]

Actually, Deanna, not meaning to sound pedantic, but here's the true answer to your question: this word "pair" is actually from the French, "pair" in French meaning "peer". "Un pair de France" was "a peer of France", that is a member of the highest nobility, a rank that was established in Medieval times.

The reason that "panties" became associated with "pair" is because all peers of France wore them. They didn't have to hide the fact from their wives, either. On the contrary their wives insisted that they wear them. French women have always adored men in lace knickers. When a man was named a peer of France he personally received from the Queen of France six pairs of lace knickers made specially by her ladies. This was considered a huge honor, obviously.

After the Revolution the practice of panty-wearing became universal in France. That's why to this day Frenchmen are unfailingly faithful to their wives: because they allow them to wear the panties they love so much. There's a common French saying, "Pas de culotte, pas de culot!", which translates roughly as, "If you don't wear panties, you're a poof!"

Best wishes, Annabelle

[ReineD]

My guess is that it comes from "a pair" of pants. Prior to a few centuries ago, there wasn't one sewn garment for pants as we know it today. Men wore a pair of coverings, one for each leg, that were attached together at the top either under a tunic or there was a third piece of fabric to cover the genitals. Same with "a pair" of glasses. Originally I'm guessing they were individual lens that were attached together, as opposed to having the modern separate lens housed in a single unit.

And I'm also guessing we don't say "a pair" of bras, since bras have only recently (last century or so) been added to feminine fashion, when the technology already existed to sew the entire garment into one piece.

[jillleanne]

For the same reason we wear a pair of glasses or a pair of pants while we go look for the 'sheep' that got out. The English language is becoming a mess.