The word Panties

[avant1465]

Cheryl: Are you one of those who insists on wearing ONLY one panty at a time????

[charlytuna]

panties, underweare, underpants,bloomers, or what ever you call them they still the same thing underwear.

[Alice Torn]

Panties always seemd rather demeaning, and condescending to me! If i were feamsle, I would resent the word Panties! If women wear "panties", which to me has a sexual undertone, maybe men's undershorts should also be called men's panties.

[Pexetta]

In London and the Home Counties you may still use the antiquated 'knickers' description, but I very much doubt whether that word is still used by the general populace elsewhere in the UK. It seems to be an outdated description from a hundred years ago. But it doesn't really matter. These days a delicious pair of soft nylon or silky briefs are panties

I've heard, and read, women from all parts of Britain refer to them as knickers, pants or underwear. 'Panties' on the other hand I've only encountered in US contexts or amateur erotica.

the Home Counties

Now there's an 'antiquated' expression if ever I heard one...

[lingerieLiz]

One that has been left out was pantaloons which I heard in the "Old South" which I think from what my gradmother told me was what was worn under the great hoop skirts.

[Aloha Jayne]

Then there's the old question...
Why are panties plural and bra singular...????

You wear A Bra...but a pair or panties????????? Go figure.

same with shirt and pants.... as in, when I go to the cleaners and tell them I have 1 shirts and 3 pairs of pant.

I just have to add that I have a panty fetish. The word panty or panties alone is enough to send me into a dither. Nothing more appealing than a lady in her panties.

[Claire Cook]

So what about pantyhose, panty girdles and panty lines -- are these just American-isms?

[Pexetta]

So what about pantyhose, panty girdles and panty lines -- are these just American-isms?

Well I can see this is a controversial subject, but in my experience: 'panty line' is certainly heard in the UK, usually in the context of VPL; 'panty girdle' too, by the people who sell them at least. 'Pantyhose' on the other hand is very strongly marked as an Americanism, I've never read or heard a British person use it unless they were writing for an international or US audience.

[Audrey34]

LOL, where I come from all undies (which is the term I use for panties) for females ad males was called "drawers". I can still hear my Mom telling me to "hurry up and get your drawers on, breakfast is ready!" lol... But yes, I use the word panties a lot as well as the word undies.
-Audrey

[Cheryl T]

Cheryl: Are you one of those who insists on wearing ONLY one panty at a time????

Not me...I wear PANTIES...lol.
I just ask the hard questions...I don't have all the answers....

I love the word panties. It's sexy, descriptive, feminine and a bit naughty all at the same time.
Underwear could mean any number of things from Panties, to a bra, or an all-in-one. I prefer to be specific and say I WEAR PANTIES....LOL.

[Cassandra Lynn]

Another confoozling one.......why do some use pantie in the singular?
Anyone knows that panties are plural and panty is just one............pair or not.

Which of course begs the question, if your wearing or calling them undies how many are you wearing at one time?

Call them what you want, they are the underwear that is funtowear.

[Missy]

me and wife talk using panties even she calls my men underwear panties as for knickers do not use this or do we say underpants

[SweetHailey]

I love the word because it sounds so very distinctly feminine...but for my wife it's like nails on a chalk board to hear anyone say it. To here they're all underwear.

[Diversity]

I use the word underwear or undies. I agree with you, that the word panties is 'eeeshish'! It still makes me feel wierd saying the word 'bra'. But what else would one call it?
Di

[Beverley Sims]

Bra is ok but I have to agree panties, yecch!

[EllenJo]

Panties is the word for me. I love the word panties, pantyhose, panty girdle, lacy panties, Big girl panties, ect. I wear panties and my wife refers to them the same way since we often wear matching panties. For me it is just so feminine but then I am of the older generation. Underwear is what I use to wear.

[Tina B.]

Every since my wife asked me years ago if I needed any panties, I've used that name, and I like it, but Haines calls them briefs.
As far as the bra being singular and panties plural, I can't explain panties, but you don't really wear a bra, that is really just short for Brassiere
although no one uses the full name anymore. The things you remember when you get old is weird.
Tina B.

[Lorna]

"Panties" is in common use in the UK. I see racks of them, labelled as such, in shops and supermarkets. "Knickers" is also a widely used term here. Until the 1960s, "knicker" was also used in traditional boys-wear shops as a term for short trousers. I haven't come across any noticeable reluctance to use these terms.

[bobbimo]

Love Panties, and just the word is pretty exciting.

[Sarasometimes]

I like the word but I'm puzzled why something you typically wear only one of is plural? People go Shoe shopping? You need two of them? Pants? Shorts? But if you change out of your skorts you put on a skirt? Gotta luv the English language!

[rita63]

Its panties in Canada. Knickers makes me think you've been stealing underware or nicked them.

hugs rita

[Stephanie47]

When the free offer comes from Victoria Secret it says "Free Panty" The term underwear as relates to women, means boring cotton briefs. My wife wear underwear. I wear panties.

[jacques]

I think panties sounds more feminine than knickers. Strangely I usually call my male underpants knickers.

[Dinsdale]

Panties is not a commonly used word particularly when selling them in department stores etc here in Australia, Undies, Briefs etc , much more common and acceptable to women.

[AmyGaleRT]

Both I and my fiancee call them "panties." My ex-wife called them "underwear." Go figure.

As for why they're "a pair"...(Amy puts on her studious glasses )...supposedly, it became common practice to refer to things which were a single object composed of two joined components as "a pair," despite the fact that there's only one object. We see this, not just in "a pair of pants" (for the two legs), but in "a pair of scissors" (two scissor blades joined by a pivot) and so forth. This applies to panties (and jockey shorts, etc.) as well, despite the fact that the "legs" have become just leg openings over time.

- Amy