Why do we say "pants" ?

Hello,

Why pants, trousers, jeans, pajamas, shorts are all described as a pair is a mystery.

When I dress in ‘jeans’ I only wear one pair, why would I add the ‘s’? Same deal with trousers and every other piece of clothing I wear on my legs.

I know I have two legs but that doesn’t make sense because I also have two arms but I never say I’m going to put on my shirts if I only wear one shirt.

So why are jeans not 'jean' or pants not 'pant' is there a reason?

originally posted by: highfromphoenix
Hello,

Why pants, trousers, jeans, pajamas, shorts are all described as a pair is a mystery.

When I dress in ‘jeans’ I only wear one pair, why would I add the ‘s’? Same deal with trousers and every other piece of clothing I wear on my legs.

I know I have two legs but that doesn’t make sense because I also have two arms but I never say I’m going to put on my shirts if I only wear one shirt.

So why are jeans not 'jean' or pants not 'pant' is there a reason?

Grammatical concepts are just that....why are tacos folded?

mentalfloss.com...

a reply to: highfromphoenix

They are a pair, because they are to cover both legs. Technically the trouser is the part which covers the leg. So a single pant would be a garment for covering just one leg at a time, whereas pantaloons, trousers, slacks, and so on, cover both legs.

If you refer to an item of clothing as a pair, then that means more than one, making the word become a plural and an 's' is added to the word. You yourself referred to your jeans as only one pair.

Either that or it's a conspiracy to mess with our minds?

a reply to: TrueBrit

Blimey.. well that's solved.

a reply to: highfromphoenix

...The Anglicized form “pantaloon” soon appeared in English meaning “a foolish old man” (as in Shakespeare’s “lean and slippered pantaloon” from As You Like It), but the term was also applied to the Pantalone style of trousers, eventually giving us the shortened form “pants.” But “pants” in the 16th century differed from today’s jeans in that each leg was a separate garment, donned in succession and then belted together at the waist. Thus it made sense to call these “two-piece britches” a “pair” of pants, and the usage stuck long after pants were unified. We speak of “a pair” of shorts or swimming trunks because of the precedent set by “pants.”

Source

Make sense?

a reply to: highfromphoenix

Shirts are to mainly cover your torso, you only have one torso; pants are mainly used to cover your legs, you have two legs, hence the singular "shirt" and plural "pants". It denotes a pair of something, you don't have a pair of torsos.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Good answer, that one had me stumped (2 arms and all)

cheers

CBG

a reply to: highfromphoenix

Gary Hart was born in Ottawa, Kansas, the son of Nina and Carl Riley Hartpence. He and his father changed their last name to "Hart" in 1961 because "Hart is a lot easier to remember than Hartpence."

So Gary Hart dropped his "pance" long before
he got caught dropping his pants.

Just thought I'd share that little gem =)

Why do women and Hillary Clinton wear a PANTsuit?

a reply to: IAMTAT

they do?

2nd Line

(obviously from different countries, what is your definition of a pant suit, explain please so i can have a laugh, no embarrassment intended, we speak the same but don't if you get my gist)

originally posted by: corblimeyguvnor
a reply to: IAMTAT

they do?

2nd Line

(obviously from different countries, what is your definition of a pant suit, explain please so i can have a laugh, no embarrassment intended, we speak the same but don't if you get my gist)

I'm sorry, I don't understand your question. Forgive me.
en.wikipedia.org...

originally posted by: olaru12


why are tacos folded?

Because when they aren't, they are called a chalupa.

originally posted by: IAMTAT

originally posted by: corblimeyguvnor
a reply to: IAMTAT

they do?

2nd Line

(obviously from different countries, what is your definition of a pant suit, explain please so i can have a laugh, no embarrassment intended, we speak the same but don't if you get my gist)

I'm sorry, I don't understand your question. Forgive me.
en.wikipedia.org...

No problem, just wondering if we were on the same hymn sheet, after all, you lot call front as back, or back as front .......... i cant remember

originally posted by: IAMTAT
Why do women and Hillary Clinton wear a PANTsuit?

They don't. They wear a "pants-suit"

Put down the weed, man.

a reply to: olaru12If taco's where not folded they would be quesadillas or tostada's.

We dunt get inta that fancy pants (See what I did there?) wordun round here. All we now is britches. Nuf sad.