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I've only recently come to terms with it myself. I use the term 'granny panties' a lot, for reasons well documented here. And, you know, no one says 'granny underwear.' It just doesn't have the same ring!
As for other options, I'm quite fond of the Britishisms 'big pants' and 'knickers.' But if Madonna has proven anything in her lifetime, it's that Americans adopting British lexicon is just pretentious and ill-advised.
{I'm obsessed with this set from Dottie's Delights.} |
I think most of us could agree on the word 'undies,' if we were forced to come to an acceptable international term. But I'm guessing the U.N. has bigger fish to fry right now.
So here's your safe space: you can all vent about how much you hate the word panties. Go!
I don't mind "panties" sounds Kind of girly lacey and frilly not to mention comfortable to me unless of course you put the "granny" in front of it! then is just sad :( LOL
ReplyDeleteI do hate the word. I didn't realize I was in good company. "Undies" is much better, but it includes both bra and panties, I think.
ReplyDeleteIn Australia undies is the most common term refering to underpants, bras are well bras. Underwear would refer to both.
DeleteIn New Zealand we use undies (like the Australians); it wouldn't be used to refer to bras. Bras are bras.
DeleteHideous word - and combining it with 'moist', well ...
ReplyDeleteI love the word 'knickers'; I even call my husband's boxer shorts 'knickers' (somewhat jokingly). I notice he says it with more of an Australian accent, though, which means it's a word he never really used in the States.
Icky. You hit the nail on the head; I hate the words panties AND moist! We say "undies" around here. My 2 year-old says "unnies". :)
ReplyDeleteYup, I hate the word!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah...i really dislike the word 'panties'; for me it has the association of stripper wear etc - don't ask me why! i have no idea haha
ReplyDeleteI grew up using the word 'knickers' at home (my parents are British and i hold dual British/Australian citizenship) and 'undies' and school with friends etc These days, for my own daughters, i use both words.
LOL I really do hate the word "panties" I cringe when I read it and when my mom always says it. And here you went and put "moist" in the same paragraph ;-) LOL now I never really thought that word was bad but since they are placed together.... eeeeew. I have a newfound dislike!
ReplyDeleteIn the UK we say knickers for girls and pants for boys. However, big pants would be called granny pants (especially if made from sturdy and functional material). And those in the pictures you're showing might well be described as sexy granny pants.
ReplyDeleteIt's a minefield. But I don't like panties much - it's too smutty.
Actually, now I think about it, pants works fine for both sexes. You'd just need to get everyone in the US to use the word 'trousers' and then it'd be sorted.
DeleteSuch a horrible word "panties" I wish I knew why I hate it but there really is no logical reasoning behind my feelings.
ReplyDeleteI just don't like it!
Christina Hendricks really likes it!
ReplyDeleteBut that still doesn't make it OK.
Ha! Thanks for that link! I kind of agree with her in some ways.
DeleteI love "knickers", like "undies", and am neutral about "panties". How's that for coverage? ;-)
ReplyDeleteI use the word 'panties' all the time! I think at first it grossed out my husband, but I prefer that word over 'knickers' and 'undies'. My 5 year old daughter says it too, I think it's actually a classier term than the other two. In the end, it is just a word people! Not a dirty word!
ReplyDeleteYep - this panty-hate is all new to me too. I say panties all the time - panties, panties, panties! And for men? Manties!
DeleteManties! Actual lol!
DeleteI don't hate the word panties nearly as much as I hate the word "ointment". Ew those should not be used in a sentence together.
ReplyDeleteWell... I hate with a burning passion the word MOIST. And TENDER.
ReplyDeleteI object to using underwear as an interchangeable word with panties. Underwear is stuff worn under outer garments. So it INCLUDES panties, manties, bras, camisoles, slips, and jock straps (among other things). Undies is a diminutive of underwear and over time seems to just refer to panties and possibly bras. This begs the question of why a diminutive, with all that entails, is used to refer to products/garments for women moreso than for men. Is it because women's things are supposed to be cute, frivolous, or tiny? Do we (the general we, not just women) feel more at home or comfortable with women's garments than men's?
I kinda like the word panites, but I do think about the word and what conveys... clearly I think about it too much. I should get off my box now and stop drinking the KoolAid.
Honest to goodness, I don't care. I don't care about "moist", either, though. The words I hate are mostly recent portmanteaus: Manties, moobs, bromance, jeggings, shooties (shoe/boot. I thought this was an ankle-boot or high-top? Why the new faux word?). Words used to have Classical roots! What happened??
ReplyDeleteOh, God, yes, this. Panties, knickers, undies, underwear, etc etc etc who cares? But manpris? Jorts? Are we really so pressed for time/precious that we cannot call things by their two word names?
DeleteI don't hate the word panties, it just sound juvenile to me. Thinking about saying the word to my boyfriend for example, "do you like my panties?" or "would you pass me my panties" sounds kind of ridiculous. While I grew up saying panties I definitely say underway now. So, I think its an age thing, 12 and under "panties" is OK. Over 12 "underwear" seems more appropriate. Also, if I had a little girl I would certainly use the word panties to talk about her underwear. Or maybe not, not sure.
ReplyDeletePanties doesn't bother me, but I detest moist. My #1 worst word though is slit. It makes me shudder. I also inexplicably hate "buoy".
ReplyDeleteSlit is a rather unpleasant, graphic bit of slang in the UK, so I can understand your dislike.
DeleteOh I like the word 'panties' - it has a really retro sound, I think! My best friend's little brother always called me 'Skinny Pantie Woman' (looooong story) so I think I'm fond of the word for that reason :) Mind you, his preferred word for underpants was 'ganks' so, you know, that's good too.
ReplyDeletePanties for me has an overly sexual component... think of the word "pant" and it's associations. I reserve "panties" for sexy undies only. Using the term about everyday underwear just makes me think of perverts looking over garden fences at them on the clothesline.
ReplyDeleteLOL...I have that same connotation!! For 30 yrs I thought I was the only one who abhorred the word! My mom and then husband think I am batty for my dislike of that word. He'll even tease me by saying it just to see me squirm.LOL
DeleteI've always hated "panties", ever since my dad would tell us girls that we needed to fold our own! I prefer to call them "bloomers"! That's what my grandpa called them!
ReplyDeleteAnother "panties"-hater here. I'm American but live in the UK, if you're keeping track. I just don't find "knickers" or "pants" quite right for underwear either; they're both other things!
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, "panties" is just squickily cutesy and infantilizing, and I can only ever hear it in my mother's voice.
I don't mind hearing the word panties but can't bring myself to say it... it makes me feel like I'm in a porn movie. My husband doesn't care and uses "shorts" for his undies and "panties" for mine. I say shorts for both.
ReplyDeleteEurgh, I hate 'panties', it makes me feel suicky - especially when my mother says it. My preferred alternative, however, is possibly the most juvenile option: underpants. Childish as it may be, I feel far more comfortable with 'underpants' and was quite tickled when South Park introduced the underpants gnomes, lol.
ReplyDeleteThis is hilarious! I've enjoyed all the comments... as I never really knew it was such a huge deal to so many! I don't dislike either word, but now I am horrified to think how many times I've used either and someone has cringed inside! I kind of like ginch or gonch for mens; sounds so funny to me. For womens I say underwear most commonly, but I do think panties sounds more girly & frilly & cute.
ReplyDeleteI call them chonies or unders and occasionally panties.
ReplyDeletePanties, in my mind are little girl underwear with frills and pictures of unicorns. I call mine chonies and as for my "granny panties" I call them giant lady pants.
ReplyDeleteI used to hate the word panties with a passion and I definitely used the words underwear and undies until I started dating my current boyfriend. He uses the word panties in certain contexts, mainly when he is telling me how sexy he thinks I am, so, you know, that's brought me around. Still, I don't think I would use the word to talk to other people about my underwear.
ReplyDeleteI deplore the word panties, it just makes me cringe, and I couldn't tell you why! There is something very childish about it, but also a bit, um, statutory rapey about it, I don't know, I just hate it. I call them undergarments, whatever, I'm practically Victorian.
ReplyDeletestrugglesewsastraightseam.wordpress.com
I love saying panties. I also love the word moist. They both sound sexy and a little naughty to me. I also have an intense dislike of a particular person who hates both words, and so I've probably ramped up my day to day usage of them just to bother her. Because I am delightfully petty.
ReplyDeleteWhen I hear "moist" all I can think about is devil's food cake. What's not to love??
DeleteExactly! Moist describes at least half of the food I really love, so how could I hate it?
DeleteI've never been fond of the word panties. No one in my family ever used the word growing up. We used undies or underwear. The linguist in me likes underpants best because it's worn under pants but it's not what naturally comes out when I speak.
ReplyDeleteAs I can't get used to the English word "panties" I just use the French word "culotte".
ReplyDeleteI hate "panties". It sounds so juevenile, so not chic, but I am hard pressed to come up with a chic word for that article of clothing. "Underwear" sounds like something you buy in a pack of 3 from a big box store. I prefer "knickers" because it sounds a little fancy and frenchified, a little individual. Something possibly made of silk and ribbon.
ReplyDeleteBTW, are you using wooly nylon when sewing your unmentionables? I have some spools of black and I'm thinking about getting some in a peach or white color for the purposes of making some of my own knickers.
ReplyDeleteAlso, woulding the Oh Lulu pattern make great shapewear if you used that power net?
Well, there's always the word "briefs", which isn't much better, but at least it's the same for both sexes.
ReplyDeleteNo. I think it a lovely, descriptive, feminine word. I detest "awesome", "like", and "wiggle dress."
ReplyDeleteI'd rather hear "panties" than "knickers" but that is probably from the context I first heard it. Living on the US/Canadian border we saw a bunch of UK programming when I was young (back before BBC America made it popular). Knickers was always used by the creepy sleezy guys. So "knickers" has a perverted subtext in my mind now.
ReplyDeleteMel M
My daughters go bonkers when I use the word "panties." They hate it! I am careful not to use it anymore. Although, I have three granddaughters now, and I am considering letting them in on the word so we can torment their moms from time to time };-)
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, I never knew that these words had such distaste with people.
ReplyDeleteI use the word panties only when referring to girls or women's botttoms and I use the term undies (or underwear) when referring to bottoms when being generic and not denoting a gender.
I use "under garments" when referring to a set, or bras, slips, foundation pieces, etc.
I do think it is cute when I see the word knickers, but for some reason it sounds quite silly me trying to say it in normal conversation. (kind of like the madonna thing you mentioned)
Is there a reason that people do not like the word panties?
If I ever want to make Honey's face screw up, I call his underwear "panties." Gets him every time. This makes me laugh, he says "aaaargh!" and then I get tickled, and we both laugh. Uh-huh!
ReplyDeleteanalogieshellcats@gmail.com
even my 8-year-old twin girls don't like me to call their undies "panties." I wonder why at such a young age even is there such dislike? Interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteI never really use the word "panties" but not because I don't hate it, I just for whatever reason use underwear or underpants more often. Sometimes I do use knickers, but it's rare. I guess I don't use panties because I feel they only describe one type of women's underpants and they're ones I don't typically like wearing. (You know, the ones so tiny, they're mind boggling.) But if I break out the fancy underwear, I just call them fancy pants, because fancy pants is so much more fun to say!
ReplyDeleteI can't think of any words I don't like to hear. "Panties" is what I used with my daughters growing up. I think my mother used "underwear". I think that sounds a little clinical, but then she was a little clinical where things like that were concerned.
ReplyDeleteI have been known to use "knickers". And in more silly moods have been caught referring to underwear as "didies or nappies". I'm sure I've evoked "undies" once or twice.
"Moist" doesn't shake my cage. Although one of my daughters always detested it along with "swab". I never did get that one either.
I love the English language and believe that you should use what word best fits in any occasion. Sometimes "moist" is more accurate than say, "damp/wet/steamy/muggy/soggy/sticky/juicy/watery/misty/dewy". (whipped out the thesaurus for that one!)
Overall, I'd have to say, it's probably "bra and panties" in my world. And I'm pretty happy with that, although soon it will end up being "bra and grannies"!
Do we sweat in our sweaters? Do we sneak in our sneakers? Do we loaf in our loafers? No, we do not. Do we pant in our panties? Maybe, sometimes. From a strictly factual point of view, panties pass the Truth in Wearing (tm) test.
ReplyDeleteWe are LOLing here with my boyfriend :) He's British and he says they sometimes use the word "smalls" to describe both women's and men's underwear. I quite like the word "intimates".
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I do not get all the hate for the word 'panties' (or 'moist', for that matter!). They're both fine to me. I don't get either sexual or little-kid connotations from it. Granted I don't use it much, but that's more because I haven't been in conversations recently that call for speaking about panties specifically--it's more underwear in general, which would be what 'undies' means. LOL
ReplyDeleteI *love* the word panties! I never knew it was a widely hated word until recently. Suddenly everyone I knew was talking about how much they hated the word as if there was some kind of scheduled National Coming Out Against the Word Panties Day that happened.
ReplyDeleteI don't tend to use the word a lot, and usually say underwear, but any underwear with lace gets called panties always.
LOL... I think the sudden exposure has allowed us to come from underground.....I am 43 and have felt this way since 12 or so...
DeleteGlad to hear that other languages also have that problem! I hate all german words to describe these things, from "Unterhose" ( too boring) to "Schlüpfer" (too granny-ish) and "Höschen" (makes me think of horny old men :D) and I'm sure to english/american ears they must sound even worse!
ReplyDeleteWow! You have NO idea on how interesting is this for an english student like me! Why nobody told me about this before? I have used both words (moist and panties) and now I understand the funny faces. I thougth it was my pronunciation...
ReplyDeleteAre there any other not-so-naive words that I should be aware of?
ReplyDeleteI never knew that panties was a hated term.
ReplyDeleteI have never like the word 'panties' lol
ReplyDeleteI use chonies or unders
I don't mind the word 'panties.' I hardly use it except when it's preceded and followed by the phrases, 'don't get your' and 'in a bunch,' respectively.
ReplyDeleteI prefer to use the word 'drawers,' pronounced as 'draws.' =)
I despise both panties AND undies--they sound old (as in something my grandma would wear) and childish at the same time. Knickers sounds pretentious. I usually go with underwear or delicates.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I like the word "panties". It brings to mind frilly, lacy, undies.
ReplyDeleteIn the words of Barney Stinson's one man play, "moist, moist, moist....,"
So nice to find I'm not the only one that cringes at 'panties' and 'moist'. I'm English and I say "knickers" which incidentally is one of my favourite words ever (particularly when trying to express annoyance whilst avoiding actually cursing!).
ReplyDeleteI went to an all girls boarding school and on our uniform list they were 'linings'.
What you have on there are some very lovely big knickers/ panties/ undies/ smalls/ linings!
I'm LOL reading all the comments about the feelings we attach to words!! Around my house all the under-layers are just referred to as 'unmentionables' because my DH wouldn't say panties if you paid him! I believe in the south they used to be called 'underpinnings' and nice ladies like Miss Martha might still use that term. My granddaughters call them 'unders'... which I love!
ReplyDeleteYep, hate them both! I recently heard that the word 'moist' is mostly hated by women, but not men. Wonder if the same is true of 'panties'?
ReplyDeleteNever use the word "panties" -- and never thought about it. It does remind me of that scene in the movie "Deliverance": "Take them panties off." Yuck.
ReplyDeleteMoist -- doesn't bother me. I would only use it to describe a baked dessert, though.
I call my own undies and my husband's undies 'panties.' He is completely unphased by it at this point!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't understand the hatred of the words moist and panties. I think they're both great! Of course since everyone hates the word, and it could potentially be misread in mixed company, I stick the word underwear. (I still use moist - you can't make me give it up!)
ReplyDeleteNever could stand that word myself and I call them 'underwear'. I can't even speak the word 'panties'.
ReplyDeleteI used to work in a call centre (in the UK) and one of our regular obscene callers always wanted to know 'what colour panties are you wearing?'. From that day onwards the word makes my skin crawl. Here in the UK 'knickers' is the acceptable alternative whether you are discussing practical or sexy underwear!
ReplyDeleteI like the word panties! I pronounce it "pahnties" though with a British accent for fun. I stayed at a youth hostel in Edinburgh once and you knew which bed you were staying in depending on what slang word for underwear it was named. Mine was applecatchers. Heehee.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't worked out why Americans call trousers, pants! Pants are what u wear to cover ur bum ( often called knicky noos in our house, a Cutey version of knickers). Scants is an other term I use for those slightly scanky pants ( u know the ones, we all have them). Anyway, if u wanted britishness call them pants and the long things that cover ur legs trousers. X
ReplyDeleteI'm a hater, I'm afraid, I find it both creepy and twee. I say knickers or drawers. Moist also leaves me wanting to have a bath! It's interesting to find out what people like and don't like about different words.
ReplyDeleteI have hated that word for as long as I can remember. I don't even know why really, but reading many of these comments I think it is probably for some similar reasons. I never, ever use the word myself. Ever. They are underwear, or named by their particular style, whatever that category may be. My boyfriend uses the word every once in a while, and it doesn't bother me so much when he does as when other people do (but that's mostly because he gets away with just about anything) but I still can't bring myself to use it. Eeeeee.
ReplyDeleteAgreed on "moist" as well. Gross. I think my favorite hated word has to be my little brothers dreaded "purchase". I don't know what it is about the word he hates so much, but it really makes him cringe.
Deleteno one I have ever known has ever referred to their knickers or pants as "panties". It just seems so creepy. I don't know why. I honestly think my friends would think I'd gone strange if I started calling my pants "panties".
ReplyDeleteUndies are for little girls I feel. I like knickers, makes me think of "are you being served" ("Dear sexy knickers, I don't half fancy you")
ReplyDeleteI actually prefer it to knickers and am from the UK. Panties sounds more feminine and girly to me.
ReplyDeleteI have no problem with the word panties, though I didn't realize how often I used that word until my oldest son started to refer to his underwear as panties. Had to make a conscious effort to gender-ize the words for underthings in our household, lest his later schoolmates think him effeminant. Then along came the discovery of the "captain underpants" book series, and underpants are now the usual term.
ReplyDeleteIn the UK as you probably know by now it's Knickers for us, or if you are my aunt it's 'unmentionables'
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't understand is why in the USA you use the word panties for knickers and the word pants for trousers. For a very long time when I was younger, I thought people were appearing in their undies in public!! I couldn't wait to visit:-)
Linda
This is so funny. I am okay with panties, but I detest the word moist. I thought I was the only one who disliked the word moist.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a problem with panties or moist. It is interesting reading the different terms and how people feel about them. Mostly, I use moist in relation to cooking, but panties is for those you may call tidy whities, knickers, bloomers, drawers, or other odd names. As for "chonies" and "conks"? No. Sounds like fishing terms my husband might have used (I think I'll go chony for some conk. See you later). For some reason, "knickers" Brings to mind a picture of a horse with it's head over the gate, calling softly. Nickering, if you will. "Panties" is fine with me.
ReplyDeleteAnd the sudden penchant for made up words like "jeggings" is annoying to me, too.
I LOVE this post because I HATE the word panties!! UGH! I cringe when I hear someone use that word. I had no idea that so many other people felt that way. I have always used the word 'undies' instead.
ReplyDeleteI never had a problem with the word "panties." I dislike the word "bloomers or drawers."
ReplyDeleteNo problem with panties around here... Unless I tease my four men about wearing panties. Then somebody will throw something. Panties = Frilly Girl Things. Briefs are for the boys.
ReplyDeleteI always think of the Baby Blues cartoon where Mom tells Zoe to take Dad his underwear. Zoe says, "Here's your panties Daddy." The punchline is Dad essentially saying that he felt weird the rest of the day... Too cute.
I'm fine with 'panties'. For me in invokes the lacy, flirty, wear it for your man kind of styles. The everyday ones are either 'underwear' or 'unders'.
ReplyDeleteIt's 'undies' I don't like! LOL It sounds weird and usually falls into the phrase "don't get your undies in a bunch". I don't want to be thinking about a wedgie when I think of my unders. I also hate thongs. Weird word (even when referring to the sandals) and a 24/7 wedgie... NO!
Meh, "panties" is kind of infantilizing while at the same time it's somehow a sexier word than knickers or shorts or undies. Undies is kinda cute, as is knickers. But it just doesn't fit into the American dialect. How about drawers? Anyone use that word anymore?
ReplyDeleteI refer to mine as underwear, even though that is an umbrella term for all things worn under outergarments. My bras I just call bras.
I say drawers. My southern grandfather called them that and I picked it up. I use that term and undies interchangeably.
DeleteUnderpants!
ReplyDeleteI don't mind the word at all. To me it also signifies something kinda sexy, and alluring. Underpants seems boyish, drawers mean 19'th century knee length garments, undergarments, and undies just mean anything worn as a foundation garment. Knickers wouldn't be bad, but it doesn't feel 'right' as an American... it just isn't part of our dialect!
ReplyDeleteKnickers isn't just British - knickers and undies are both current in NZ and Australia. Underwear is anything you wear under regular clothes (singlets, bras, knickers), but undies exclusively means knickers. Undies to me is a bit childish. Not so much that I wouldn't say it, but mostly I say knickers. Oh, except if I'm talking about men's underclothes, men have undies, not knickers. Women's can be either.
ReplyDeleteI think your right that Australians do use the words undies and knickers a lot. Although, my husband wears jocks and nothing else. Undies being too girlie for him. We also use the term 'Grundies'- granny undies.
DeleteThere is a movie where Lee Remick played a rape victim. During the trial any time one of the attorneys said the word 'panties' the court would start giggling and have to be brought to order by the judge. Clearly in America that word has some kind of 'pervy' connotation. I used the word 'panties' when I lived in the States and thought it sounded feminine and sexy. My husband is a New Yorker and I find that Americans can be remarkably prudish about some things, you can do it but you mustn't say it!
ReplyDeleteSo very true! I blame it on the Puritans.
DeleteThe word on the street (from my 18yo son) is that undies are de rigeur for both sexes, but moist is yeuuuk, especially with the emphasis on the 's' - it's positively onomatopoeic - had to spellcheck that one. I recall as a kid in Brisbane 'grundies' became fashionable for a while - Gold Coast entertainment establishment at the time. Nomenclature in our family has always erred on desexualising kids bodies- we are a very biological family! The kids (14yo and 18yo) are perfectly comfortable with penis and vagina too. When they're all grown up, they can invoke any imagery they like! I agree 'panties' sounds pervy and is reserved for 'old' men, always sends a shudder down my spine.
ReplyDeleteThis post must have been sent to make me laugh at the end of a very long day! I am English and our family and everyone I know calls panties 'knickers'. Pants or boxers are what men wear. For some reason to my ears 'knickers' sounds a bit more feminine and fun.
ReplyDeleteForgive me if I have repeated any early points - too tired to read all the comments!
Panties are what little girls wear. I wear "underpants" or "knickers" and more generally "underthings" or "underwear", but that refers to everything (including bloomers, undershirts, boxer shorts, camisoles, bras, full and half slips, etc).
ReplyDeleteHilarious. I think different countries have different preferences too - here in Oz most the people I know are comfy calling underthings 'knickers'. Most likely a fall back from the British. Undies is also acceptable, also usually brings to mind utilitarian undergarments, rather than pretty things.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely - no one says panties in the land of Oz. There's something just a bit fetishistic about it! That said... I'm not fussed :)
I say moist ALLLLLLL the time, and I use it in such ways just to unnerve others. It's so much fun!
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to LINGERIE?
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine in college once declared the worst sentence in the English language to be: "Moist plump panty loaf."
ReplyDeleteWhich isn't a sentence, but I was blinded by the awful for so many years that I didn't realize that until right now. I'm going to have to text that girl now and demand she find a horrible verb to stick in there.
ROFLMAO! That's awesomely bad!
DeleteI have no problem with moist or panties. I didn't realize others hated panties. My unisex word of choice is "underoos" - a symptom of my 70's-80's childhood.
Well scanties and intimates could be used too. I love that on a hills hoist the most inner line was called the intimates line. ahhh
ReplyDeleteWow. I had no idea there was so much hate for the word "panties." Really? Panties, panties, panties! No problem!
ReplyDeleteReally, there are so many more detestable words. "Irregardless", for starters, is what gets my panties in a twist!
Canada checking in....
ReplyDelete"Panties" are feminine, pretty, delicate, sexy, cutesy....but most certainly an all female term (no age excluded). I know many men who are offended by using any other term for a lady's underpants (my own husband included). Men in Canada are equally offended when it might be suggested that they wear panties - because panties are strictly for women.
"Moist" is how my plants like their soil, how my shirt feels after spending a few hours working in the sun, and how I like my cupcakes or chicken.
Both words are all good in my circles. I never knew they were so hated in other parts of the world.
Another gal who uses chonies, which for non Spanish speakers is a (Mexican American I'm almost sure) diminutive of calzones (shorts, knickers, underwear) it's unisex and inoffensive (sorta cute actually).
ReplyDeleteI HATE IT and thought I was alone. Such a relief. Prefer, undies?, undergarments? (sounds sophisticated, no?), underthingies? I also like knickers......
ReplyDeleteand I love that we are even having this conversation.
WOW! Over 100 replies! Yikes! I heart underpants haha!
ReplyDeleteI just realized that most of the time I think of skimpy and/or frilly underwear as "panties", and the more practical, utilitarian variety as just "underwear". Weird.
ReplyDeleteObviously in the minority here, I don't really have a problem with either "panties" or "moist", except that either may induce the urge to giggle in a juvenile fashion :).
this is too funny. We used to call one of my brothers "Panties" (Andrew-Andy-Andy Pants-Panties...) but the same kids that made THAT up actually called underwear "bainties" like dainties, which I kind of like and which I have even heard my husband use. k.
ReplyDeleteIn the 60's my ancient little old lady neighbour, who was raised in a convent, called them "step-ins".
ReplyDeleteI hate the word brassiere too.
Lilli
what about 'unmentionables'? it makes me giggle every time I hear it :-)
ReplyDeleteLOL!! this post and all the comments are making me giggle! I'm not a fan of the P word, though it's worse to read it than to hear it for some reason :P
ReplyDeleteI'm Canadian and I think the aversion to the word is pretty common here too though I spose it depends on the person, like anything else :)
I guess I normally say 'undies' lol and my partner - he's Aussie - says undies or jocks when referring to his :P I'm still giggling..... ^__^
'Panties' is my most detested word...always has been. It sounds prissy! I much prefer 'knickers', 'undies' or 'granny knickers'...end of rant ;)
ReplyDeleteI rarely use the word 'panties' because I automatically use 'Chonis' (translation in spanish). But the word that sounds like nails scratching the chalkboard to me is "Skivvies"..yuk
ReplyDeleteWe call them undies here in Australia. Panties sounds like a sanitary device to me.
ReplyDeleteI detest panties but am ok with panty, why would spelling matter?
ReplyDeleteUndies or lace knickers works fine, mostly they were called smalls even when small was maybe not the right word, I still say smalls ....
" Americans adopting British lexicon is just pretentious and ill-advised."
ReplyDeleteThank you for saying this...and am a Yankee.
I think panties is cute & feminine, although now that I know it offends so many people I may be more careful about using it! I'm Ok with moist, too, it's just descriptive. I agree with Little Black Car, the words that make me want to scream are the brand new ones that we clearly don't need.
ReplyDeleteI do like some of the alternatives proposed, like "smalls" or "dainties." I can see myself saying that. "Knickers" sounds old to me, maybe because it brings back memories of watching "Are You Being Served" on PBS as a kid. So despite being American, I do know a fair amount of British slang from sitcom reruns. But, it still throws me for a loop every time I read "pants" for underwear, since over here it's the only word for trousers (unless jeans).
I'm from New Zealand and for some reason the word "panties" always sounds obscene to me. I don't know why, but we use "undies" for that instead for all the family. Eldest coined a new name for them when he started talking "nundies" is the other word we use. Bra's are called bra's.
ReplyDeleteI detest "panties". My hatred comes from a particularly creepy boyfriend (he was South African if you're wondering) who insisted on saying it in a creepy breathless voice. I'm sure he thought it was sexy.
ReplyDeleteI never understood the vitriolic hate people have towards *words* (who gives a crap about "moist"?) But then again, I also say underpants instead of panties.
ReplyDeleteI *totally* agree that knickers is great but that it sounds pretentious when Americans adopt British words....Madonna was the worst!
We've also got a saying in the UK where we describe something as 'pants' meaning not nice/dreadful/awful ie "That film was pants"
ReplyDeleteJust thought I'd share that!
Linda x
I willingly admit the last few posts made me cringe every time I saw the "P word." But when you mentioned moist? I physically shuddered. In a way it makes me feel better that so many people have the same issue. Undies sounds so much less specific. Because really, how often does one need to talk about their undergarments with other people? There's a reason they're referred to as unmentionables!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the uk and never say panties, knickers for girls and pants for boys. However my huge "granny pants" are also known as "harvest festivals" because "All is safely gathered in!!!"
ReplyDeleteKatharine
I think panties is fine if you're talking about something in Agent Provocateur - and is there for a bit saucy. I think the word connotates something kinky.
ReplyDeleteI call mine: knickers, under crackers, knicker-knockers, knick-knacks, but mostly just pants (it's not just for boys).
Oh and i'm in England BTW.
I don't like the word panties, I am from the UK, living in Australia, and they call them undies here. In the UK I would call them pants, but here that means trousers, singlet is a vest (not waistcoat), and you wear thongs on your feet!
ReplyDeleteUrgh!!! It's the most icky word in the world! Especially when said in a British accent. It just makes me think of pantyliners (ie. sanitary towels). A Slovenian lady the other day referred to her knickers as "underpanties" (long story why we were talking about them), and it sounded quite sweet in her accent. But in any other accent, NO NO NO!!!
ReplyDeleteI usually say knickers, sometimes pants, and increasingly dainties or frillies :)
I never say panties, except...when we were toilet training my daughter we were finally able to get her interested in wearing "pretty panties". "Underpants" is just not as alluring to a toddler.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the South with "britches" and "drawers" (always though drawers was funny). I guess panties sounds feminine/antiquated - whatever. It never bothered me. What's wrong with moist? I rarely use the word but it is a good descriptive term. We sure get worked up over weird stuff?!? Kelly
ReplyDeleteI don't detest it, but I don't use it. I don't like to hear other people say it, so maybe I dislike it more than I thought!. I use the general word "underwear" in our house.
ReplyDeleteI always refer to panties as underpants. I just find the word hilarious, it tickles me.
ReplyDeleteHm. I have no strong feelings about any words, and panties really doesn't bother me in the least. We call them either panties or underwear in my house. And moist is a perfectly useful word for the kitchen and the garden.
ReplyDeleteMy linguistic pet peeve is the people who attempt to pluralize words with the inclusion of an apostrophe! It's just WRONG.
The comments on this thread are a riot! I've had so much fun reading peoples word preferences. I don't like the word "blouse". I don't know why, I just don't like it.
ReplyDeleteWhy hate the word panties when we have the truly horrible 'chillax'.....
ReplyDeleteIt says a lot about a culture's view of women when the name for a basic piece of clothing is skeevy and insulting sounding.
ReplyDeleteI use "underwear."
I can't believe "moist" and "panties" beat out the word "pubes". *shudder*
ReplyDeleteI use the word "panties", and I'm not alone in my region of California. My friend and I were working in a mall shop and few years back and remarking how we called EVERY underwear panties, including our boyfriend's boxers. A shopper was checking out and said "I have to tell my teenage son this, he gets so mad when I call his underwear panties!"
I have no idea why this is, but as a broadcaster, I'm going to go with the two syllables are easier than three theory. Same reason smart broadcasters say "twenty-twelve" and opposed to wasting precious airtime on "two-thousand-and-twelve".
I'm also one who relates "panties" with little girl underwear, which I'm okay with. I HATE when people and companies use "panties" for grown-up women's underwear. To me it has the connotation of some guy trying to make underwear sound sexy, and it is kind of creepy when I think of the statutory rape undertones . . . I find men are the most likely culprits of those using "panties", though.
ReplyDeletePanties make me think sexy underthings. I usually call mine undies (Midwest US here).
ReplyDeleteAs for moist, I'm pretty indifferent. I kinda feel that people are maybe hopping on the bandwagon to hate it because it's in vogue to think it's gross. Just words, peeps!
HATE IT. I've noticed only guys refer to them as panties. My five-year-old son is very adamant about how GIRLS WEAR PANTIES and BOYS WEAR UNDERWEAR/UNDERS/UNDIES. So silly.
ReplyDeleteNever bothered me, but you do need the word for "Granny Panties" and the phrase "don't get your panties in a knot"!
ReplyDeleteKnickers for girls, pants for boys in our house. I really don't like the word 'panties' I think it sounds perverse. When I was growing up my grandfather told me that the word knickers was a swear word - and I still say it now in moments of frustration!
ReplyDeleteWhen may daughter graduated from nappies to pants, they became known in our house as BGPs ('Big Girl Pants') and that has stuck, to refer to all underclothing, even my husband's. I guess he's sufficiently in touch with his feminine side not to be fazed by my handing him his BGPs from the washing pile. Otherwise, we use 'underclothes' with a sly grimace....
ReplyDeleteooooh i loathe and detest BOTH of those words!!! even mr q&s hates the pair...we're well suited that way! i call them undies (or unders depending on how silly i'm feeling) :)
ReplyDeleteI wear "underwear". "Panties" are something I put over my helmet in a roller derby game. :)
ReplyDeleteI've not thought about this, bit I usually say underwear or underpants. I call my husband's boxers (that's what they are), and my kids' underwear is generally referred to as underpants, though for my 3 year-old son this word seems to be the height of hilariousness and he'll say it randomly to make people laugh.
ReplyDeleteMy husband refers to my undergarments as panties, but like some others here, he's usually talking about the sexy or fancy ones, not the plain cotton ones.
Imagine - a knock at the hotel door in Dhaka Bangladesh. "Madams panties is written here two and there is only one pair madams panties????" when we had fianlly sorted out that there was indeed only one pair of pants in the wash bag and the poor man went away my fellow traveller and I were on the floor laughing, crying even I can still to this date not hear the word panties without seeing an ernest faced boy worried that we might believe he had stolen madams panties. Knickers here in the Uk for girls pants for boys , boxers for men if they wear them and big granny pants for big granny knickers but without the sex.
ReplyDeleteNora
Having worked with children in a living situation for MANY years the following protocol came about to avoid complaint and moans when I said anything. Underpants for kids. Shorts or briefs for boys that are "grown", underpants and girdle for me, and panties said aloud for ladies, should the occasion arise. As in, "I went shopping and found some cute panties on sale."
ReplyDeleteEvidently at least some American department store chains prefer "panties" as that was what was printed on all the signs in the stores I visited today.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing good about the use of the term "panties". It's a ridiculous phrase. Knickers comes from "Knickerbockers" and undies from "underwear". Panties comes from.... When I say "I'm putting on my PANTS" it means I'm throwing on a pair of TROUSERS!!!
ReplyDeleteNothing. Right. Knickers for me, thank you!!
:)
Dutch is my first language, we said 'panties' when referring to pantyhose. I've lived in New Zealand for 31 years and say underwear, underpants, bra. I think the word knickers but would not use it out loud, and I think of panties as being sleazy. Moist is definitely for chocolate cake!
ReplyDeletePanties definitely grosses me out. Knickers all the way. I had to laugh at your mention of moist - a friend of mine completely freaks out if you use the word, lol.
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I hate the word "Panties" specifically, although "granny panties" is an ugly vision. I have 2 small children, a boy and a girl, and plan on using "panties" with her once she's potty-trained. As for adult women, I think "underwear" in formal situations (not people who know I have kids) is legitimate, and "undies" for those who do. I use "undies" for my son. Knickers just isn't an everyday vernacular for me, although I love Great Britain (esp. comedies - Monty Python anyone?). My favorite remembrance of "panties" is when I was having my daughter and one nurse said she routinely told patients to put on their "big girl panties" and push when in delivery. I use that now regularly.
ReplyDeleteWow, after reading so many of these, I'm now leaning towards the word skivvies. Although, scanties is kinda cute without the pervy connotations of panties. I'm not sure why, though.
ReplyDeleteI think 'Granny knickers' is the best name for them.
ReplyDeleteother words I hate
hate
vest - (as in worn under a shirt (uk meaning) not waistcoat.)
plus when I was little saying 'knickers' was regarded as slightly rude (growing up in the uk in the 1970's) lol
the word always makes me smile
Wow, this is amazing! I say panties for girls and "drawers" boys. On occasion I'll say underwear. My husband would hate the ones you have on, but I thnk they are cute!
ReplyDeleteYou should get Erin McKean, sewing blogger("A Dress A Day"--http://www.dressaday.com/) , vintage enthusiast, but more to the point, former editor of the "Oxford American Dictionary", and currently the brains behind the online dictionary website, "Worrdnik" to opine on the controversy. She loves weighing in on words, word origins, and silly words, especially sewing and clothing words.
ReplyDeleteI say pants or knickers, knickers is more girls and my boyfriend often asks 'have you got your huge pants on today?' which is anything bigger than a thong (and all mine are!)
ReplyDeleteI can handle it if the 'it's is silent....pannies. I can't explain that. I really hate 'drawers'.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I find it perfectly acceptable for Americans who are married to
ReplyDeleteBrits (ahem) and/or live in England to use British words. For one thing, many British people refuse to acknowledge you unless you adopt the "correct" way of speaking. For another, when you live there for any length of time, it's absolutely impossible not to pick it up. Some accents or words are really infectious. Just try to spend more than 3 weeks in the south, for example, and see how hard it is not to let the occasional "y'all" slip out, even if you try not to. Finally, British English is just plain awesome so why wouldn't you want to speak it? :)
(btw, because we all know how hard it is to convey tone online, I'm speaking in fun here.)
Panties doesn't bother me a bit, niether does moist. Drawers appeals less to me, my daughter's use that term. I AM a granny and have just moved back into briefs. I am LOVING them, like a trip back to childhood comfort. They don't seem to travel to places they shouldn't be as much as bikini's and the awful boy short and thongs did, ugh! And while reading this post I diverted over to another where you were talking about modifying with some lace panels- OH! Now you're talking!
ReplyDeleteI like "knickers" but usually only us it when I say "dont' get your knickers in a knot". The only time I use "panties" is when I use the similar phrase "don't get your panties in a twist".
ReplyDeleteI really dislike "undies". Why must we cutsify things pertaining to women? What's wrong with underwear?!? I mean, we don't call men's boxers "boxies" do we? Good grief, we can't even be bothered with "camisole", now it's "cami". BLECH and HARUMPF.
To me 'underwear' is for boys and 'panties' is for girls. Although recently, I like to use the term 'funderwear' for either gender.. hehehee
ReplyDeleteI'm coming in late here and finding this a hysterical discussion! I'm not even sure what I call them at this point! I know I've never said bloomers or knickers-I picture those words as comparable to to pantaloons! I think I may just say underwear & I probably only refer to them by name when I'm folding clothes out of the dryer.
ReplyDeleteThere appear to be a couple of Australians in the responses above. Traditionally our preferred term is underpants, or given the Australian delight in shortening every word we can, undies (I'll admit to using it). Although knickers is common as well, "panties" is definitely a couple of generations ago.
ReplyDeleteHate it! But underpants is worse to me, especially when I hear a male use it.
ReplyDeletePanties doesn't bother me at all, but I hate "underpants." It bugs me about as much as "pocketbook" does when someone means "purse" or
ReplyDelete"hand bag." But that's a US southernism, I guess.
It's got to be knickers all the way, babe.
ReplyDeleteWhen baby wets her knick-knacks
The best thing you can do
To stop her getting all upset
Is wet your knick-knacks too!
I used to ocassionally call them pantaloons. However, recently I was at my local fabric store when a lady came in wearing a linen dress or long tunic over pantaloons which hung down well past her knees. Thinking she must have just made them from a costume pattern for a bit part in a Nursery Rhyme Gala (Little Miss Muffet or Mary had a little lamb)I commented on how pretty they were. She said she has them custom made for herself out of a delicate flax or linen fabric with rows and rows of inset cotton lace all in a lovely shade of off white. She informed me that since she now lives in the South East she wears them under her dresses with no undergarments and that she stays very cool and comfortable (could I really be hearing this, frightningly I was, but wait there's more...) and that she uses a calamine powder called Lady Anti Monkey Butt to stay dry. Yep, I was completely frozen with fear at this time. This was no costume, just another person thinking way outside the box, sharing all her girl secrets with others at her local fabric store.
ReplyDeleteThe Pantaloons were nice, I'd rather see girls wearing them than male looking flannel pajama bottoms.
Hm,I might not be getting some of the emytological dealings going on in the connotations of 'panties' - English being a second language and me being European. The totally unsexy German version would be Unterhosen, meaning underpants. Yet, as soon as a manufacturer tries to seduce us German women into buying something other than the no nonsense white cotton kind of things - we get offered slips, jazz pants, Brazilian pants aka Rio slips, hipsters and strings. Höschen - which would be the diminutive for Unterhose - tiny pants that would be - is slightly old fashioned but can be heard in upscale dessous boutiques. It might just get a teensy bit naughty but nothing to blush by or catch a long lasting hate relationship.
ReplyDeleteI'm similarly scratching my head as to what should make moist such a loathsome word. You might provoke some slight grins using FEUCHT which is the German equivalent but only ever if the conversation is veering the erotic way anyway. As long as you are talking geography, food, weather, garden soil, conditions of a sponge etc. no one would have the slightest hesitation. Nothing to hate there is. I'm tempted to say: Puritan inhibition?
I had no idea...I thought I was the only one who can't get "panties" or "underpants" out of my mouth. I say "underwear" or if I'm being silly "grannie pants". Comfort first!
ReplyDeleteOMG panties is my MOST HATED word!!! I thought I was suffering all alone! Nice to know that I am not the only one!!!
ReplyDeleteSo the big joke in our house is that we call my husband's boxers his "man panties" You sort of have to say it more like one word all run together. (but not manties...) We totally thought we'd made that phrase up and found it really funny... but then it showed up in some sitcom and took a little of the fun out of it. ah well. ;)
ReplyDeleteWhy do people hate the word moist? It describes when things are kind of wet. I don't quite follow. Any word can be used to gross effect in the right scenario. I'm not in love with the word panties, but I mostly use the term "underpants," mostly because it's a great thing to yell like a super hero name (think "Superman!") while folding laundry or when your partner is spotted walking around the house in said underpants.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm a Brit and grew up in the 50's where it was always "knickers" for girls and"underpants" for men and boys. My grandmother wore those strange things called "Directoire Knickers" longish and roomy although she was tiny. In my 20's and 30"s in the 1970's and 80's French Knickers became very fashionable and sexy and along with many of my friends I bought and wore lovely bra and French knicker sets. The advent of the very mini bikini briefs and thongs did nothing for those of us who have Caeaarian scars because the "waist" seems to sit exactly on the scar. These days the men and boys pants are simply pants. Maybe we Brits are finally loosening up and getting rid of our inhibitions. The term "big knickers" arrived with Bridget Jones and are thankfully available to those of us grandmothers still nursing caesarian scars!.
ReplyDeleteMy BFF refers to girls undies as "chonies" which I love. She didn't think it was appropriate to refer to her children's drawers as panties. I am not fond of the word myself so I now refer to my everydays as "chonies" and my vintage as "big girl pants".
ReplyDeleteMy father mentioning the underwear called them 'your droopy drawers', and my mother called the nylon shiny fabric underwear 'panties' with a nasal 'n' sound as if they were something deeply personal about them, and risque, even. I loathe the word. My husband is Japanese and he found no qualms in referring to his own underwear as 'panties' which I taught him to refer to as 'briefs' or 'underpants' because of an 'ick' factor of a male referring to a feminine garment. Now, I refer to one of my son's underwear as 'shorts' and try to avoid mentioning the ick factor of the other son going 'raw'. 'Knickers' sounds too pretentious as I'm not British, and 'undies' or 'unders' is too silly to mention in mixed company.
ReplyDeleteI have to chuckle every time about 'drawers' because in my line of work I fill little drawers with hospital patient's medications, and it's comical to ask 'did you fill the drawers, yet?' or 'I've got to go empty my drawers'.
It's 'underpants' or 'underwear' with me.
As for 'moist' I cannot help but think of TV commercials of women and lipstick and buccal cavities and other warm, moist areas where fungus grow i.e. between toes. It's just 'ick' unless clearly discussing a greenhouse or devils' food.
English is not my first lenguage but spanish.I don't hate the word panties,sound ok for me. i prefer saying like in my country Peru:Calzones
ReplyDeletePanties, Panties are a form of underwear designed to be worn by women and girls in the crotch area below the waist. Typical components include an elastic waistband, a crotch panel to cover the genital area (usually lined with absorbent material such as cotton), a pair of leg openings which, like the waistband, are often made of elastic, and constructed with material that is breathable. Whilst panties were originally designed to cover the entire lower half of the female form, the modern version (since the 1970s) has either no legs or, in some cases, very short ones, and has become progressively more revealing over time.
ReplyDelete"Panties" (plural form) is usually used to denote more than one "pair of panties" (singular), whilst "panty" is used in such derivatives as "panty liner" and "panty hose". The term is usually applied only to female underwear, with "underpants" used as the term for the male counterpart.
I'd never have dreamed the aversion or dislike for a number of these words. To me panties has an erotic appeal - fascinating to hear while embarrassing to say.
ReplyDeleteStrangely, no one has mentioned an all American saying, "Put on your big girl panties", meaning to grow up and deal with the situation, so it really doesn't apply to just children's wear.
Oh heck no, undies is just as bad. Panties is awful. As well as a person referring to my shoes as booties or a blanket as "blanky". I'm a grown woman. Underwear too much of a term for you... well then just like male under clothes refer to what it is... brief, bikini, thong, g string, boyshort... I mean, why is this an issue. Could you imagine how men would feel if we referred to their boxers as panties?
ReplyDeleteJust like wearing a Very Comfortable Girdle. Slims me down and no slipping or sliding. Had trouble trying to order the colored undies but no trouble ordering the White ones. I plan to buy bali underwire
ReplyDeleteI think this kind of panties is very stylish.
ReplyDeleteYou hate the word because it turns you on,you phony!
ReplyDeleteFirst i love ur name gertie! But i cant stand the word panties! They sound so outdated and matronly! Granny panties? Not sexy AT ALL!!! I prefer underwear or even undies. Undies sound cute and in some instances, sexy. And yes underwear technically can refer to bras and undies, but bras should just be bras. If ya wanna get fancy, say brassiere. But most people are going to assume u mean underpants when u say underwear. Its natural. I understand how some ppl find the term panties childish bcuz of the 'ies' (blankies, booties, etc) but i disagree with them. It bothers me when my friends say it and they will say it just to bother me sometimes.
ReplyDelete