Quirk of Language
February 24, 2012
Why are things that you wear on the bottom half of you plural? Pants, pantaloons, panties, bloomers, boxers, briefs, culottes, tights, jeans, shorts, slacks. For socks and sock-like things it makes sense because there are two individual objects, but a pair of pants? Is each pant leg a “pant?” Why don’t I call each sleeve of my shirt a “shirt” and the whole thing a “pair of shirts?”
Why is a loincloth, on the other hand, singular?
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Even more odd… Why aren’t bras plural, considering that they also contain a pair of body parts?