Tights vs pantyhose are two different things in the US. Tights are the thicker ones, pantyhose are the thinner sheer ones. They're not the same thing but we use them both.
@@kaiokendo tights are more worn by dancers or gymnast under the leotard. Not to say no one else wears them but they’re much thicker/more opaque than pantyhose/stockings made from nylon. They have a lot more lycra.
Yeah pantyhose are always sheer and are usually nude or black. Tights tend to be thicker, and come in more colors, tho we do have sheer tights, they always come in bright colors (no one wears blue pantyhose, they wear blue tights) we also have leggings which are opaque, footless tights.
@@mimisler I’ve worn red stockings. I would definitely class stockings with pantyhose. Same material but stockings are knee or thigh high. They’re definitely not tights. I’m pretty sure you can get them in blue as well.
@@mbgal7758 yeah I guess I classify stockings more with socks than tights but you're right. Hence the "usually nude or black" I've seen red pantyhose online, but only like, once, and the rest of them are neutral colors. I've also seen white pantyhose, so
2 notes: Americans are much more likely to use the term "rain boots" rather than "rubber boots," and we actually do use the term "tights," it's just that we differentiate between the thicker, opaque tights and the sheer, usually nude-toned pantyhose.
"Americans are much more likely to use the term "rain boots" rather than "rubber boots,"" This must be highly dependent on where you live. I've literally never heard anyone call them "rain boots." I might call them "rubber boots," but to me they're simply "boots" and if I mean any other kind (like cowboy boots or something) THEN I would specify.
@@levyman566 I think it depends on region. I'm from the upper Midwest originally and I grew up hearing both "gym shoes" and "tennis shoes", and I heard them used interchangeably for the same types of shoes (athletic shoes).
"Trousers" is used in US to refer to the bottoms of a men's business suit or formal wear. A women's suit usually has a skirt, but then along came pants suits in the 1970s; those bottoms can also be called "slacks", a word which may be used for men's pants as well. Based on usage I've heard, slacks don't always need a matching jacket, but might be worn with what we call a "sport jacket", which no longer has anything to do with sport.
"Tennis shoes" is used in Missouri/Kansas/Oklahoma. Also I think every I've ever met from Illinois says 'tennis shoes" as well, but to be fair I don't think I know anyone from Chicago. Or at least I don't know them well enough to have talked about tennis shoes.
I use "soda" and "pop" interchangeably. This is a quirk: I was raised in the North Country (around Oswego, NY) where the usual term was soda, but most of my life I've lived in Western New York where the usual term is pop.
American here. In the US we use the word tights along with pantyhose. We also call gym shoes tennis shoes, ketch shoes, or sneakers depending where you are in the country.
It's very regional. I believe the most common alterations are: Gym Shoes, Tennis Shoes and Sneakers. I use Gym Shoes, Sneakers are the same thing to me but then Tennis Shoes sound weird.
I find it funny how, despite not being used in American English, the term "knickers" is still present in the saying "don't get your knickers in a twist" (although it is sometimes rendered as "don't get your panties in a twist"), which essentially means "don't get angry over something that isn't very important"
@wulpurgis Haha. Former rural Ontarian, current Winnipegger. Those all make sense to even me, sitting on my chesterfield after supper. It was boughten lasagna because I beed lazy.
To avoid confusion with other head garments from around the world, you should actually spell it as "tuque" or "touque" to signify it as the Canadian usage of the word.
@Other Yeah. If I remember correctly, jumpsuit comes from how paratroopers and pilots wore them. Our dungarees were a type of jeans primarily worn by the Navy with bell bottom pant legs. They were retired in the early 2000s, but you can usually buy a pair at military surplus stores. I wore them when I was a Sea Cadet. Surprisingly comfortable, durable, and great for water survival.
Dungarees to me in Northern Ireland are mostly denim but not necessarily so with a bib and brace, and a coverall jumpsuit would be called a boiler suit, I think from the days of steam engines. Either the train drivers or factory steam engines or both.
@@darnstewart One reason why I love name explain; we get to talk about how objects got their terms. My guess for boiler suit would be from steam engines, most likely either on naval vessels or trains... maybe on steam powered cars, which were a thing for a bit. I don't recall seeing any photos of workers wearing them while tinkering with factory steam engines.
I live in Canada so we have a strange mixture of British terms and American terms. For example, both pants and trousers have been used here and people understand both. Trousers just comes across as old fashioned, like something you'd hear your grandmother say.
Americans would never be confused by the word trousers. In addition to being considered old fashioned, Americans might also perceive its use to be pretentious and snooty.
Interestingly, the American slang word for a sleeveless undershirt is "wife-beater", which I've been told is the British slang word for Stella Artois beer.
Don't you just love how they will "abbreviate" something by adding an entire syllable, and make jest of alcohol-fueled domestic violence into the bargain? (I'm going with stella vs wifebeater. Never heard someone bother ordering an entire "stella artois")
We say trousers in the USA too, but not all pants are trousers. I'd say there are 3 levels of pants roughly, from most casual to most formal: jeans, trousers, and slacks. All are pants though.
We have stockings, tights, pantyhose, and leggings in the US. Stockings and pantyhose are interchangeable depending on which part of the US you are in. Leggings are the ones you wear while working out or just lounging, and have no feet. Tights are more like thick stockings you wear under a skirt or dress in the winter when it's cold, but you still wanna look cute lol
I've always used 'stockings' and 'tights' interchangeably, but maybe that's 'cuz I read a lot of historical fiction as a kid. I never used 'pantyhose,' because I think it's an ugly word.
In the US, dungarees are an older term for blue jeans - my parents, who are in their 80s, used it as children. As for trousers, that is a term generally applied to dress or office garments as opposed to garments worn for manual labor. In women’s wear, there is a type of blue jeans called trouser cut, meaning denim made in the pattern of office pants. Now, about pantyhose: we have tights and pantyhose. They’re different items. Pantyhose are thin, skin-toned nylons (or silk) that women wear. Tights are made from cotton or polyester yarns, which are thicker and opaque.
I (an American) always thought tights were different from pantyhose. I think of tights as being thicker and warmer and come in different colors, where pantyhose are nylon and transluscent and come in skin shades.
I (a 30-something) use it, but mostly just to see if people call me out on it. Which they do. I've had many conversations to the effect of, "I don't consider it a perk to be allowed to wear dungarees to the office. This is a place of business, not a rock and roll concert." "...the hell'd you just say?"
I was born in New England USA in 1949, and when I was growing up in the '50s we called denim jeans dungarees as well. I didn't even know there was another name until I started seeing ads for them on TV and they were being called jeans or blue jeans. Also, I was disappointed you did not answer the question "If I'm wearing a pair of pants, how do I wear a pant?"
Growing up my dad also called them dungarees, when I started in elementary school in the late 70's I came home calling them jeans, eventually I think my dad gave in to the new term as I can't remember the last time I heard him call them dungarees.
Dungarees was the name used for a particular US Navy enlisted work uniform, and then became a general term for blue denim and then jeans. When I see or hear it today it is usually in a negative sense, e. g. finer establishments with dress codes that forbid "dungarees", referring to more working class style as opposed to business attire or formal wear. The same places also hate "capri pants", which I had to look up since I hadn't heard it since I was a boy in the 1960s.
My dad was around your age and also from New England and he called blue jeans dungarees as well. He also called underwear "shorts" (actually more like "shaahts" lol)
6:20 In the US, we also have "tights." They are thicker than "pantyhose" and cover the feet like socks. "Pantyhose" are also often called "nylons" because of the material they are made from.
I’d like to see videos about differences between other English dialects, such as Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, Indian, etc. So many people are talking about the topic of British vs. American English, so these others would be more interesting IMO.
New Zealand has a lot of weird vocabulary, but to me, their defining feature will always be that it's what happens to English when you put the vowels on "shuffle." Or should I say, "Niw Zaylind Inglesh hehs ohd vawuls."
Canadian terms for clothes are pretty much the same as U.S., except that we say "runners / running shoes" instead of "gym shoes / sneakers". We have the concept of a "tuque", which in the U.S. doesn't seem to have a specific name, and is just called a "hat" or "beanie" (which are both concepts which exist in Canada as well).
Suspenders / braces: Braces is a word used in the US as well, but to refer specifically to ones that are non-elastic and adjustable like a belt, as opposed to suspenders, which are elastic. Braces typically attach to pants with buttons, while suspenders clip on to the top seam of the waist of the pants.
I'm from rural Appalachia that had a large amount Scots-Irish settlers and I've heard older generations use the word trousers used as pants is typically used. The phrase "pull up your trousers" the go to phrase when I hear the word trousers.
In Lancashire we always (50yrs ago anyway) used pants for outer legwear... Underpants and panties or knickers for underwear. Trousers was for formal pants...eg to wear for an interview or at a christening... Universal use of trousers for pants was something I only came across in the 80s at uni when I started meeting southerners.
And when people in the UK suddenly started using pants to mean grundies it really seemed weird and still does. It's does seem either something in use in London being assumed to be universal in the uk or something that actually really only occurred in the late 1980s.
@@leegosling I appreciate your use of grundies 😂 Haven't heard that since my nana used to call them undergrundies too. To me, pants are what you wear on your legs casually, trousers are formal wear (school uniform, work attire). So it seems pants = underwear is a southerner thing. Cheers 👍
Nappy is from the nap of the Terry cloth, diaper is a mathematical name for the shape the nappy was folded into to fit the babies. It is a sort of kite shape.
Regarding Diedrich Knickerbocker, he was actually an invention by Washington Irving, as a character in the History of New York. However, there is an actual Knickerbocker by the name of Herman, who was Irving's friend
Growing up in Southern California with Spanish speaking parents I always used Jumper as a word for a bounce house, mostly because in Spanish the word for Bounce House is Brincolín (literally Jumper)
A jumper in the UK is a wooly sweater. A sweater is the type of jumper material that gym sweaters are made from. A cardigan is a jumper that zips or buttons down the front.
I would say that "Trousers" and "Tights" aren't uncommon here in the US, as I've been aware of these terms ever since I was very little here in the Midwest, while I was not aware of "pants" or "jumpers" until as an adult watching quite a bit of New Doctor Who. "Trousers" here has a slightly different nuance, as it sounds like a somewhat formal, dressy, or even slightly stodgy form of pants. Tights are like panty hose that are a little thicker, and provide more coverage, which allows them to be warn on the outside by ballet dancers and in certain sports. "Tights" are also considered traditionally unisex while "panty hose" traditionally more feminine.
We also call that type of vest a waistcoat, in the US, vest is a more general term that can be used for any sleeveless over garment, but usually refers to a heavier type worn in the winter or fall, over a sweater, sweatshirt or hoodie. But usually under other jacket or coat, if one is worn in addition.
There’s hardly any articles of clothing that are the same. It’s crazy but I guess it’s because the clothes that we wear now are so different from before the American revolution that we started off calling them something different even though it’s the same language
@@reillywalker195 Given the "American" is shown with the USA flag, instead of the giant Maple Leaf, I believe my incredulity is still founded as I have not heard the term "rubber boots" used for rain boots in "America". (Yes, fully aware that Canada is in The Americas but I do not believe it was meant to be considered as part of "America")
In Australian English each piece of clothing is, Nappy’s Underpants / Underwear / Undies Panties / Briefs Pants (Trousers are business pants) Tights / Leggings / Stockings (Are the thin material) Gym Shoes / Tennis shoes Sneakers / Runners Gum Boots Jumpers Sleeveless Dress Bracers Vest Singlets Overalls (cover the whole body)
A common confusion even in the US-- Garters tie over your stockings, to hold them up. They're made of elastic or cloth and go above or below your knee, depending on era. A garter belt is a garment that goes around your waist and has straps that hang down and attach to your stockings, designed to act in place of garters. I love your videos, btw, just wanted to clear the garter thing up.
I thought garters are only worn at weddings, to give the groom something to eat. And there are lots of garter snakes in the US (there aren't really any garden snakes or gardener snakes).
@@t71024 Heh, something to eat. Yeah, I think "real" garters nowadays are rare, outside of ceremonial or costume wear, or the historical dress/reenactment community. Suspender/garter belts are great--you're not constricting your legs at all. I would guess garter snakes were so named because their stripey pattern looks like the patterns you saw embroidered in garters "back in the day."
Thank you so much for the wonderful "show". My parents came from the U.K. and did use certain terms... like flannel for face cloth. But now, as I speak to my friends over in U,K., and DO talk about clothes, we end up laughing so hard. If I say I was wearing suspenders, they say, why?? I say, To hold my pants up. After the laughing is done, they explain what suspenders are to them. And of course, it goes the other way around. Now, because of you, next time clothes come up in conversation, I'll be able to picture what they are saying. But the laughter shall carry on. Thanks once again, and hugs. U.K. Canadian ;-))
We studied the play 'Death of a Salesman' in A level English. We all thought it hilarious that the football playing son, Biff, was described as wearing knickers in several scenes. Of course the New York Knicks basketball team are also named after Knickerbockers.
I love the reference to the lumberjack song when talking about suspenders and now the Monty python skit is even funnier to me as I now know that it sounds different to americans then how it sounds to me a british person
My grandmother, born in 1910, who lived in Missouri the last few decades of her life, always used the word trousers. And I still often call rubber boots galoshes.
My understanding of dungaree in southern US is any kind of jeans other than Levis. If you were wearing Levis you always called them Levis, but other jeans such as Lees were called dungarees. Overalls usually meant bib overalls, while coveralls were full-body garments such as a jump suit. I also thought the word was related to dung, because these pants were used in ranching.
In New England (up to my mother's generation) "dungarees" referred to any denim jeans, including Levis. When I was a kid, you never heard anybody's mom say: "put on your Levis". It was: "put on your dungarees". Whatever brand they were.
Despite being American, I actually used the term gym shoes bc I owned multiple pairs of sneakers, but only one pair of them were fit for athletics so those were the only ones I used for gym class
I've heard dungarees in reference to underwear in the US. Along with skivvies, briefs, long johns (for thermal underwear), whites, and "Crappers" (i think that ones just my dad lmao) Also, I have still heard knickers in the US, although it's only in reference to "bloomers" which are almost exclusively worn by very old women or toddlers (usually over a diaper), so I wonder if it's a generational thing.
Dungarees as underwear? I hope just using the term, not that they actually were underpants made of thick, stiff denim material held together with brass rivets for durability. ...Although now that I say it out loud, it sounds like there might actually be a hilarious and/or horrifying story behind that, if that actually were the case.
Some of these I wonder about. I'm a female in the US, I've never heard of any piece of clothing colloquially referred to as a jumper. But I loved learning about the origins of pants. lol It's rather unfortunate, isn't it? Thanks again for a wonderful video.
I’m a male in the US, and I’ve only ever heard “jumper” used for a piece of clothing from Brits and Aussies. I would only use it for something/someone that jumps and for the cable used to recharge a car battery using another car battery.
Fellow American girl here who likes to sew & likes vintage style clothing, & who especially loves to look through my granny's pattern stash, & she had several jumper patterns. It seems to be a popular style of garment worn in the 60's & 70's. My Mom grew up wearing them. I have a few I've made & they're especially nice in winter. :D
Growing up in Namibia I’m actually really surprised at how many of the American versions we use down here...We have a lot of our own versions of names too😅 Like a sweater/jumper we always just called jerseys
Some of the British names for things are used in America for the more formal options. For example, if I'm wearing a three-piece suite, then the piece under my jacket might be called a waist-coat (especially in Black Tie) but if I'm wearing casual clothing, a similar piece made from denim would be a denim vest. This might come from the influence of England on business and formalwear.
Clothing fun fact: the word "Skirt" is the from same root as the word "Shirt." It was borrowed from different Scandinavian languages at different times, when a tunic-length clothing item was either worn wrapped around the waist or over the shoulders. In different regions, the pronunciation and usage differed, but became standardized as the different clothing items we use today. Also, we Americans have lots of words for shoes. Sneakers, Gym shoes, Tennis shoes, ("tennies") street shoes ("streets"), trail runners, and (in some places) moccasins ("mocs") are all approximately the same shoes. Mocs aren't laced (or use permanent stretchy laces) while gym/tennis shoes must have laces. Streets can be hook-and-loop (velcro) or laces. Trail runners tend to have more traction. Moccasins also refers to leather footwear used by certain Native American tribes, which can get confusing, depending on where in the country or world you find yourself.
any skin tight garment that covers the legs are a pair of tights in US english, pantyhose specifically refers to "mesh nylon stockings" the thin, see through strechy skin tight garment generally worn by women under their skirts/dresses.
American here, weighing in on trousers: in my experience, it's generally been a term used by older folks (my grandparents' generation, now in their 80s-90s) to refer to medium-fancy full-length leg garments. I think it would go, from highest-quality to lowest: dress pants (usually part of a suit, but broadly applied to anything of that style/quality), slacks (usually khaki), trousers (can be more heavy-duty khaki), and jeans. Collectively these would be known as pants, but coming from a time and place where you wouldn't be caught dead wearing jeans to church or slacks to work in the field or whatever, the distinction between different grades of pants was quite important.
@@davidroddini1512 Er, nope, not as a thing. There may be some charity or such that does it as a local event (or even national event), but I've never heard of it. Certainly is not a recognized holiday. We have Boxing Day, which is the day after Christmas day. There is no requirement to run around in your pants, however. :)
I used to live in the states, I’ve always called tights tights. Also I’ve never heard of “rubber boots”, but I’ve heard of “rainboots”. As someone who likes crafts, I _knew_ “dungarees” immediately rang a bell. It’s a very good cloth!
I feel like ‘tights’ is definitely overtaking the word ‘pantyhose’ in the US especially as tights sales are increasing and pantyhose decreasing. Soon, there will be no difference in wordage Same, I’ve only used rain boots and in the south we call sneakers “tennis shoes”
As an American, me and most of the people I know, call "Rubber Boots" "Rain boots", as you wear them in the rain. Also, waistcoat and vest are pretty much interchangeably. Although vests seem to be used more for sleeveless coats and sweaters. And at least in my family, vests are also feminine waistcoats.
In my experience, we do use some of these. Trousers, usually used by older people or if talking about business casual-ish pants. Tights are also used. I believe they refer to a certain style of pantyhose like garments. Dungarees, also mainly used by older people and just referring to any denim clothing. Gym shoes is rarely used. Can't recall ever hearing it in person. They're pretty much all just tennis shoes in Baltimore or sneakers in New York. There was a period in time where jumpers were what some people called overalls. Which makes sense given that it's a sleeveless dress with no collar you wear over a blouse, which is how you'd wear overalls in the 90s lol.
In Ireland, we call trainers/sneakers "runners", and we use "pants" to refer to jeans, shorts, slacks, etc, while underwear for men is called "underpants" (women's are knickers), and has a subtype called "boxers" (they have a squarer shape than Y-fronts, which are more triangular). Also, what does "pumps" refer to in the UK in terms of shoes? In Ireland, "pumps" are flat shoes with a closed, normally round toe, and no upper (in America these are "flats" or "ballet flats") while in America, "pumps" are high heeled versions of the above (I haven't heard "pumps" used to describe a heeled sandal, or anything with a wedge heel in America) (in Ireland, these are just "heels", or "heeled pumps" if you want to be specific, or occasionally "court shoes" when the heel is low and/or thick). I've often had to explain to my American friends that when I say "pumps" I don't mean stiletttos, so I'm curious as to what the situation is in Britain (or Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or anywhere else for that matter)
If you say "braces" in America, most people will think of dental appliances that are used to straighten teeth -- ranging from metal bits and wires that are directly affixed to the teeth to a series of graduated molded retainers (marketed here as "Invisalign") that do the same job. And any American Monty Python fan already knew about the other meaning of suspenders thanks to the same image you used in that bit... The Lumberjack song, and the line "I cut down trees, I wear high heels suspendies and a bra..." But suggestion for net British/American difference -- appliances. I happen to know that this area is absolutely rife with differences.
In most finer clothing shops I've seen waistcoat used for something that goes with a suit, and vest for something that is meant to be worn independently of a jacket.
usages of these words are all affected by whether they're in fashion - eg no-one wears three-piece suits anymore (the 80s wanted them back) and I remember knitted vests around the same era but not sure people wear them anymore either - maybe they do in cold climates.
The US has dungarees, too. Ours are a type of trouser made out of canvas or sturdy denim....they are basically study blue jeans one might use for manual labor rather than a lighter denim used for comfortable fashion.
I like to slip the word "dungarees" into my American English when referring to denim work pants like Levi's, just to see if I can get away with it. I never can. On the other hand, people usually don't call me out on it if I refer to them as "bluejeans," instead of just "jeans." Interesting side note, the word "denim" comes from the French city Nimes-- it was cloth "de Nimes." So the very quintessentially American bluejean is, in a certain sense, a French item. (Well, the fabric is, even if the style isn't.)
These videos are always fun from my Australian perspective as Australian English, while in many ways very similar to British English, tends to fall somewhere between the two; often both the American and British names are in common use, at least in my experience. So here are the names I use or hear used for these clothing items. 'Nappy', not 'diaper'. 'Underwear' is the most common term here, and it's completely gender-neutral. 'Knickers' is a word that's used for women's underwear, though these days it would be more common just to say 'underwear'. I heard 'knickers' a lot more often as a kid. We also say 'underpants' sometimes. 'Pants' is used in the American sense. 'Trousers' means the styles of pants you might wear with a suit or your school uniform. A sentence like "It's a formal event, so wear trousers," would mean "wear dress pants, not jeans or trackies." The word I always used growing up was 'stockings' but these days I usually hear 'tights'. All athletic shoes are called 'sneakers' here. The rubber boots you might wear in rain and mud are 'gumboots' 'Jumper,' not 'sweater'. And therefore 'pinafore' not 'jumper,' though I never knew that. 'Suspenders' not 'braces' Usually just 'garters,' not 'garter belts,' but definitely not 'suspenders'. A 'waistcoat' is the formal wear garment with no sleeves. A 'vest' is like a jumper with no sleeves that you'd wear in mildly cold weather. And the garment that's like a t-shirt with no sleeves, which you might wear under a t-shirt is called a "singlet". And 'overalls,' not 'dungarees,' and therefore 'coveralls' not 'overalls.'
Then we in Australia have picked and chosen our clothing names from both sides of the Atlantic, though I found myself relating to the US names for most things just a bit more, despite Australian English generally being more aligned with British.
A single-piece garment with leg and arm coverage and meant to protect underclothing (like overalls) is generally called a "union suit" for fairly clear reasons (there is no split between top and bottom). Undershirts are white and almost always cotton. T-shirts have color and looser fit. A sleeveless shirt is a "tank top" or occasionally, if referring to the undershirt type, a "wife beater" (probably from 1950s era films where it's a visual shorthand for violent drunk). Knickerbockers, is the official full name of the New York NBA team. Dungarees has some use in American English, it is/was the standard Navy term for work clothes and recognizable enough that there is a chain of Laundromats/Bars in my town called "Dirty Dungarees" (alliteration is a powerful hook). Sneakers also overlaps with the old term for Detective, "gumshoe". Apparently, Detectives wore (dress style) rubber-soled shoes, because they were much quieter. Of course, that's on pavement, basketball games are famous for the squeaking you will hear constantly.
Australia picks up a mix of both UK and US terms. Here's my take: UK: nappy, not diaper US: panties, not knickers (but we do have the saying "don't get your knickers in a twist/knot") US: pantyhose rather than tights (we use tights for thicker, often woollen, version) UK: wellies (you don't expect us not to shorten "Wellington boots", do you?!), not rubber boots UK: jumper rather than sweater (sweatshirt sometimes used in exercise clothing) UK ish: pinafore is sometimes used only for that specific type of dress. A jumper is not a dress. UK: braces not suspenders UK: therefore suspenders not garter belt (but brides may wear a garter for this purpose. Otherwise, garters used to be used to hold up men's sleeves or long socks.) US: Vest, but waistcoat is an older used term. Neither: singlet, not vest or undershirt, although vest was sometimes used and is becoming more common. (I've heard the saying "as useless as a pocket on a singlet") US: overalls - we have no idea what dungarees are Neither: overalls or coveralls - we'd usually use a name specific to the purpose, although coveralls is occasionally used So I make that 6 to UK and 4 to US. FWIW.
I am an American and have been a heavy reader for decades. The word dungarees routinely appeared in American books written prior to the mid-1950s. It was applied to a type of heavy-duty work trousers of the type worn by manual laborers. It was also applied to the trousers we now call blue jeans. I don’t think I have ever heard dungarees used in casual conversation but I was born after the term had fallen out of common usage.
I grew up in Brooklyn, NY in the 1960s and 1970s. I remember referring to any garment made from blue denim as dungarees, especially pants (trousers) but also a jacket.
New York’s team in the NBA (National Basketball Association) is called the Knickerbockers, or Knicks for short. And fittingly, the bottom part of a basketball uniform is a pair of trunks that the British might call knickers, but worn outside.
Us aussies get a mix of both. Trousers vs pants is interesting for me as they pretty much are the same but trousers feels more formal while pants are casual
In New England, people used to use the term "Dungaree" to refer to denim. The plural: "dungarees" referred to denim jeans. Coveralls (we say "overalls" too, BTW) may have been made of "dungaree" (denim), but they weren't called "dungarees". Also, in some parts of America (the south and California) people call sneakers/trainers "tennis shoes". Whether they're meant for playing tennis or not.
In the US “Trousers" is often considered to be a subset of leg coverings, often associated with “slacks” or the bottom part of a suit combination “Jacket and Trousers”. Love the illumination.
My dad used the term dungarees for blue jeans. When I was in elementary school, I used the term tennis shoes for the shoes I wore for PE class. When I got to junior high and became a runner, I used the term running shoes, and probably started to use more specific terms for other shoes. I’ve never like the term sneakers. I’d probably use gym shoes or tennis shoes for a generic athletic type of shoes.
When I was a kid (I live in the US), I wore tights and as an adult I wear pantyhose. Because if how those words where used around me I always thought that tights were like pantyhose that weren’t see through, like knitted kinds or the thicker kinds kids wear and pantyhose where the shear kind.
German seems to have adopted mostly the US versions e.g. sweater, sneaker. however we use the word overalls like the Brits and a vest ("Weste") is something like a cardigan, hoodie (with a zipper) or waistcoat for us. The words underpants and pantyhose remind me of the German word for pants, which is "Hose". Our underwear is called "Unterhose" and pantyhose would be "Strumpfhose" (a combination of the word for long socks and the word for pants). We also use the word "pullover", that you didn't mention. It's like a sweater only warmer.
Pullover is the standard German word, but in most stores it is called "Sweatshirt". While Pullover seems to be correct since you pull it over your head for wearing (despite of pull and over not being German words), I cannot understand the German "Pullunder" : pull-under but which is sort of a sleeveless sweater, normally worn over a long-sleeve shirt...
@@saibot2957 a sweatshirt is usually lighter than a pullover, but it might be used like that. i don't use the word "Pullunder" but that might be because I'm Austrian.
I'm from Appalachia in America. We call pants/trousers, britches. Also here braces are a suspender that button inside the britches and suspenders are suspenders the clip to the top of your britches.
Dungarees is sometimes used for jeans [regional?] in the US, overalls and coveralls are both used but it varies by type as well as region in the US. I once had an odd conversation with a British colleague when I asked if I should wear a vest with my suit because it matched my pants it was a 3-piece suit but wearing the vest might have been too formal. I don't know why knickers weren't addressed, as they are required, traditionally, for golf with knee-length stockings., young men used to wear them, but not for a century. Another wonderful video. There are quite a few Dutch words, expressions and things in the Hudson valley
It's interesting how some of these are different in Canada. Like something that covers your whole body is often called a jumpsuit here, a long sleeved thing with a hood is a hoodie, a jumper refers to what some people call a romper, basically a dress but the bottom is shorts, often with snaps in the bottom for ease of bathroom use. And we call thick tights (or leggings), tights, while the thinner ones are nylons, due to them being made of nylon. Although for most of them, we use the American terms due to proximity, despite using British spellings for most things, which the exception of using z more often, like realize not realise.
From greater manchester i've always known pants to be any full length leg wear, and trousers are a formal type of pants, and underwear or underpants worn underneath. Also plimsolls as named in this video have always been known as pumps.
But..... a lot of these terms do get used in British English. Pants is used interchangeably with trousers in much of the country - and yes, that piece of clothing at the start would be called dungarees, but only with the straps over the shoulders - if they were full like a boiler suit, they would be called overalls - I grew up in 1970s Lancashire where my dad wore overalls to work and the lads wore school pants, not school trousers. And the word 'panties' is also used alongside knickers. Maybe these are incorrect as far as Standard British English goes, but there are huge areas of the country where they are the norm.
This is what I would call these as an Australian (disclaimer: I don't speak for all Australians, and I'm sure there is some variation between different states) -Nappy -Underwear/underpants -Knickers or just underwear, the word panties is becoming more common due to American influence -Pants. Trousers is sometimes used but it's much more formal. -Tights and pantihose are both used but for slightly different things. Tights are made of thicker material, pantihose are made of very thin material. -Running shoes. Some people also call them tennis shoes. My grandparents call them "sand shoes" which is not a term I've heard from any young person. -Gumboots -Jumper -I honestly don't know what I would call that. I guess a pinafore but it's not a piece of clothing I've ever had to talk about. -Suspenders -Garter -Vest -Singlet -Overalls -Coveralls
patrick, i am sorry if i am driving you crazy tonight but my daughter and i are enjoying your videos and i had to put in my 2 cents. you mentioned how knickers came from knickerbockers. the short pants that young boys used to wear were called knickerbockers and the NY basketball team the knicks were originally the ny knickerbockers. there was also an ice cream sundae named the knickerbocker. p.s. i just started my membership today with you on patreon.
What shall we cover next time on British vs American names?
"Fancy dress" Not the same thing in uk vs us
Car parts maybe.
Drinks
Have you already done chips and fries?
Relationships expressions
Tights vs pantyhose are two different things in the US. Tights are the thicker ones, pantyhose are the thinner sheer ones. They're not the same thing but we use them both.
Tights are the thicker??? How???
@@kaiokendo tights are more worn by dancers or gymnast under the leotard. Not to say no one else wears them but they’re much thicker/more opaque than pantyhose/stockings made from nylon. They have a lot more lycra.
Yeah pantyhose are always sheer and are usually nude or black. Tights tend to be thicker, and come in more colors, tho we do have sheer tights, they always come in bright colors (no one wears blue pantyhose, they wear blue tights) we also have leggings which are opaque, footless tights.
@@mimisler I’ve worn red stockings. I would definitely class stockings with pantyhose. Same material but stockings are knee or thigh high. They’re definitely not tights. I’m pretty sure you can get them in blue as well.
@@mbgal7758 yeah I guess I classify stockings more with socks than tights but you're right. Hence the "usually nude or black" I've seen red pantyhose online, but only like, once, and the rest of them are neutral colors.
I've also seen white pantyhose, so
In spanish we call trousers "pantalones" and its funny cause they go from the PANza (belly) to the TALONES (heels)
ppffffft thats funny hdhdlydl
bellyheels
Spanish is so smart
That's a great pneumonic for students! Thank you!
It's the same in bulgarian oddly enough / панталони / pantaloni
2 notes: Americans are much more likely to use the term "rain boots" rather than "rubber boots," and we actually do use the term "tights," it's just that we differentiate between the thicker, opaque tights and the sheer, usually nude-toned pantyhose.
i'm american and i've never heard the word gym shoes
Depends on where you are from. Farmers call them rubber boots or muck boots.
"Americans are much more likely to use the term "rain boots" rather than "rubber boots,""
This must be highly dependent on where you live. I've literally never heard anyone call them "rain boots." I might call them "rubber boots," but to me they're simply "boots" and if I mean any other kind (like cowboy boots or something) THEN I would specify.
@@levyman566 Yeah, I've heard "gym shoes" maybe a little, but didn't know they were different from sneakers/tennis shoes, which are the terms I'd use.
@@levyman566 I think it depends on region. I'm from the upper Midwest originally and I grew up hearing both "gym shoes" and "tennis shoes", and I heard them used interchangeably for the same types of shoes (athletic shoes).
"Trousers" is used in US to refer to the bottoms of a men's business suit or formal wear. A women's suit usually has a skirt, but then along came pants suits in the 1970s; those bottoms can also be called "slacks", a word which may be used for men's pants as well. Based on usage I've heard, slacks don't always need a matching jacket, but might be worn with what we call a "sport jacket", which no longer has anything to do with sport.
Yeah, "trousers" could be considered a fancypants word for fancy pants.
Gym shoes is only used here in Chicago and the surrounding area. The rest of the country says "sneakers" and "tennis shoes"
We pretty much only say tennis shoes in texas
@@anotherspawn Same in California
My 90 year old Grandmother from Maryland says Gym Shoes. It was common generations ago there.
@@UncleKeith567 Midwest person here saying "yeah we call them tennis shoes as well"
"Tennis shoes" is used in Missouri/Kansas/Oklahoma. Also I think every I've ever met from Illinois says 'tennis shoes" as well, but to be fair I don't think I know anyone from Chicago. Or at least I don't know them well enough to have talked about tennis shoes.
Even within America, there are variations. Probably the most well known example being “soda” vs “pop” vs “coke” etc
I usually if not all the time call it pop but sometimes I call it cola
I use "soda" and "pop" interchangeably. This is a quirk: I was raised in the North Country (around Oswego, NY) where the usual term was soda, but most of my life I've lived in Western New York where the usual term is pop.
I call is soda
Even saying Soda pop. I use Soda and pop as a Coke is a Coke haha.
American here. In the US we use the word tights along with pantyhose. We also call gym shoes tennis shoes, ketch shoes, or sneakers depending where you are in the country.
"Ketch?" What sorcery is this? This is 'Murica, speak English!
I've also heard them called "running shoes" or "runners" here (I'm from Canada).
Aren't ketch shoes more like boat shoes than sneakers?
As an American, I've never heard or used the term "gym shoes". I've used the tennis shoes tho
I use it, but only because i have three sets of shoes and two are for exercise. Powerlifting and running have different requirements
Gym shoes are used in Chicago area and the great lakes
@@bleachno9 I’m from Michigan and it’s tennis shoes here
It's very regional. I believe the most common alterations are: Gym Shoes, Tennis Shoes and Sneakers. I use Gym Shoes, Sneakers are the same thing to me but then Tennis Shoes sound weird.
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and we called them gym shoes.
I find it funny how, despite not being used in American English, the term "knickers" is still present in the saying "don't get your knickers in a twist" (although it is sometimes rendered as "don't get your panties in a twist"), which essentially means "don't get angry over something that isn't very important"
Personally I’ve only ever heard/said “don’t get your panties in a *knot*”, “nickers in a twist” sounds very British to my ear.
More than any other variant, I've heard it as "shorts in a knot." The runner-up might me "panties in a bunch."
I've heard "don't get your panties in a wad", though I as an American always used "don't get your knickers in a twist".
I've always heard panties in a twist more, but have heard knickers in a twist
i always said it as “don’t get your panties in a bunch” 😭
It’s weird watching this as a Canadian with my toque, gitch and housecoat on. Maybe I’ll wear my Canadian tuxedo and some runners later too
You people are weird
How do you even explain your measuring units anyways?
I know, right? It's like Canada took what it liked from both British and American then decided to make stuff up for the rest we didn't like.
@wulpurgis Haha. Former rural Ontarian, current Winnipegger. Those all make sense to even me, sitting on my chesterfield after supper. It was boughten lasagna because I beed lazy.
To avoid confusion with other head garments from around the world, you should actually spell it as "tuque" or "touque" to signify it as the Canadian usage of the word.
@wulpurgis not currently but my family roots do go back there lol. And I still live in the province.
We have dungarees in the US, but it’s a type of blue jeans. Also, coveralls are also known as jumpsuits.
@Other Yeah. If I remember correctly, jumpsuit comes from how paratroopers and pilots wore them.
Our dungarees were a type of jeans primarily worn by the Navy with bell bottom pant legs. They were retired in the early 2000s, but you can usually buy a pair at military surplus stores. I wore them when I was a Sea Cadet. Surprisingly comfortable, durable, and great for water survival.
Dungarees to me in Northern Ireland are mostly denim but not necessarily so with a bib and brace, and a coverall jumpsuit would be called a boiler suit, I think from the days of steam engines. Either the train drivers or factory steam engines or both.
@@darnstewart One reason why I love name explain; we get to talk about how objects got their terms.
My guess for boiler suit would be from steam engines, most likely either on naval vessels or trains... maybe on steam powered cars, which were a thing for a bit. I don't recall seeing any photos of workers wearing them while tinkering with factory steam engines.
I was editing some subtitles, and I had to figure out a dialect-neutral term for denim coveralls. I wound up using "boilersuit".
I live in Canada so we have a strange mixture of British terms and American terms. For example, both pants and trousers have been used here and people understand both. Trousers just comes across as old fashioned, like something you'd hear your grandmother say.
That’s my experience in the USA (Cali)
What if it's a suit? Or same thing
Americans would never be confused by the word trousers. In addition to being considered old fashioned, Americans might also perceive its use to be pretentious and snooty.
an old-fashioned word for trousers in Australia is "strides".
For me, I think if I heard "trousers" I would think of "slacks" (a more specific type of trousers/pants).
Also Pumps are a heeled shoe for women in the US, but a sort of trainer/gym shoe in UK
So when Amy Winehouse sang “Fuck Me Pumps” in the UK, it must’ve confused locals.
Interestingly, the American slang word for a sleeveless undershirt is "wife-beater", which I've been told is the British slang word for Stella Artois beer.
A Streetcar Named Desire vibes
Don't you just love how they will "abbreviate" something by adding an entire syllable, and make jest of alcohol-fueled domestic violence into the bargain?
(I'm going with stella vs wifebeater. Never heard someone bother ordering an entire "stella artois")
It's funny because I grew up in America and I never called it a wife beater I called it a muscle shirt or sleeveless shirt
My English teacher, who grew up in London, told us they use "wife-beater" as a slang term for gin.
haha YES! I have heard Stella called that too
We say trousers in the USA too, but not all pants are trousers. I'd say there are 3 levels of pants roughly, from most casual to most formal: jeans, trousers, and slacks. All are pants though.
We have stockings, tights, pantyhose, and leggings in the US. Stockings and pantyhose are interchangeable depending on which part of the US you are in. Leggings are the ones you wear while working out or just lounging, and have no feet. Tights are more like thick stockings you wear under a skirt or dress in the winter when it's cold, but you still wanna look cute lol
“Stockings” can also refer to socks (although it rarely does nowadays), which is why Christmas stockings are called what they are
To me, "stockings" = pantyhose without the panty, "tights" = pantyhose that isn't sheer, and "leggings" = tights without feet. xD
I've always used 'stockings' and 'tights' interchangeably, but maybe that's 'cuz I read a lot of historical fiction as a kid. I never used 'pantyhose,' because I think it's an ugly word.
In the US, dungarees are an older term for blue jeans - my parents, who are in their 80s, used it as children. As for trousers, that is a term generally applied to dress or office garments as opposed to garments worn for manual labor. In women’s wear, there is a type of blue jeans called trouser cut, meaning denim made in the pattern of office pants.
Now, about pantyhose: we have tights and pantyhose. They’re different items. Pantyhose are thin, skin-toned nylons (or silk) that women wear. Tights are made from cotton or polyester yarns, which are thicker and opaque.
Meanwhile here in Canada, I was told that dungarees were simply jeans that were brown rather than black or blue.
I (an American) always thought tights were different from pantyhose. I think of tights as being thicker and warmer and come in different colors, where pantyhose are nylon and transluscent and come in skin shades.
That’s basically the difference
If you want to wear colored hosiery go for tights, colored pantyhose looks odd
My American grandmother (b. 1910) would sometimes call jeans "dungarees". Perhaps it's an antiquated term here in the US.
We used it when I was little, it was a brand.
My dad still calls them dungarees sometimes.
I (a 30-something) use it, but mostly just to see if people call me out on it. Which they do. I've had many conversations to the effect of, "I don't consider it a perk to be allowed to wear dungarees to the office. This is a place of business, not a rock and roll concert." "...the hell'd you just say?"
I was born in New England USA in 1949, and when I was growing up in the '50s we called denim jeans dungarees as well. I didn't even know there was another name until I started seeing ads for them on TV and they were being called jeans or blue jeans. Also, I was disappointed you did not answer the question "If I'm wearing a pair of pants, how do I wear a pant?"
Growing up my dad also called them dungarees, when I started in elementary school in the late 70's I came home calling them jeans, eventually I think my dad gave in to the new term as I can't remember the last time I heard him call them dungarees.
Dungarees was the name used for a particular US Navy enlisted work uniform, and then became a general term for blue denim and then jeans. When I see or hear it today it is usually in a negative sense, e. g. finer establishments with dress codes that forbid "dungarees", referring to more working class style as opposed to business attire or formal wear. The same places also hate "capri pants", which I had to look up since I hadn't heard it since I was a boy in the 1960s.
In ohio and pa dungarees were pants of denim from the 40s on. Terms only used for fun now.
My dad was around your age and also from New England and he called blue jeans dungarees as well. He also called underwear "shorts" (actually more like "shaahts" lol)
@@marshallferron Sounds like Boston to Rhode Island, to me.
The only folks in the US that say “gym shoes” are folks from Chicago. Down south we call them tennis shoes
Which is funny cause I've played tennis maybe only once in my whole life.
I live near Chicago and we always call them tennis shoes! Anecdotal, I know, but still interesting!
They're sneakers here in Philly, and elsewhere in the Northeast from what I've heard
Or sneakers
i'm brazilian and here ppl only call them "tenis"
6:20 In the US, we also have "tights." They are thicker than "pantyhose" and cover the feet like socks. "Pantyhose" are also often called "nylons" because of the material they are made from.
I’d like to see videos about differences between other English dialects, such as Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, Indian, etc. So many people are talking about the topic of British vs. American English, so these others would be more interesting IMO.
New Zealand has a lot of weird vocabulary, but to me, their defining feature will always be that it's what happens to English when you put the vowels on "shuffle." Or should I say, "Niw Zaylind Inglesh hehs ohd vawuls."
Canadian terms for clothes are pretty much the same as U.S., except that we say "runners / running shoes" instead of "gym shoes / sneakers". We have the concept of a "tuque", which in the U.S. doesn't seem to have a specific name, and is just called a "hat" or "beanie" (which are both concepts which exist in Canada as well).
@@frigginjerk Do they pronounce the "W" in "vowels"? I thought it would be like "vehals".
@@OntarioTrafficMan we don't. we say "vouls" rhyming with "bells"
Suspenders / braces: Braces is a word used in the US as well, but to refer specifically to ones that are non-elastic and adjustable like a belt, as opposed to suspenders, which are elastic. Braces typically attach to pants with buttons, while suspenders clip on to the top seam of the waist of the pants.
Trousers are mainly used for more fancy pants or well made pants but pants and trousers are interchangeable in the USA.
I'm from rural Appalachia that had a large amount Scots-Irish settlers and I've heard older generations use the word trousers used as pants is typically used. The phrase "pull up your trousers" the go to phrase when I hear the word trousers.
Trousers is used in the US for more formal pants, like you might wear with a suit.
"Trousers" is the fancypants word for fancy pants.
Fun Fact: in India, 'knickers' is generally the word for shorts, mostly the ones worn by men, but that depends on the design, not the wearer
Where I lived, it was small shorts worn by little boys.
In the US, knickers are baggy pants that go a little past the knees, with socks that would cover the rest of the leg.
@@myowncomputerstuff well, in that case, I'd be wearing knickers all the time
In Lancashire we always (50yrs ago anyway) used pants for outer legwear... Underpants and panties or knickers for underwear. Trousers was for formal pants...eg to wear for an interview or at a christening... Universal use of trousers for pants was something I only came across in the 80s at uni when I started meeting southerners.
And when people in the UK suddenly started using pants to mean grundies it really seemed weird and still does. It's does seem either something in use in London being assumed to be universal in the uk or something that actually really only occurred in the late 1980s.
@@leegosling I appreciate your use of grundies 😂 Haven't heard that since my nana used to call them undergrundies too. To me, pants are what you wear on your legs casually, trousers are formal wear (school uniform, work attire). So it seems pants = underwear is a southerner thing. Cheers 👍
Nappy is from the nap of the Terry cloth, diaper is a mathematical name for the shape the nappy was folded into to fit the babies. It is a sort of kite shape.
I've been American my whole life and I don't think I've ever heard people just call them rubber boots. I've heard galoshes, rain boots, and wellies.
"Rubber boots" I'd say is more Canadian than American, although "gumboots" is also common here.
Galoshes definitely, rain boots sure... But I've never heard them as wellies -> life long midwesterner
@@veggiet2009 same here in California
As a Floridian who uses these for work I’ve heard rain boots and galoshes but I’ve always called the rubber boots.
I'm American and usually call them rubber boots or rain boots. I also have rain boots that are not rubbery.
Wow, the way you say overalls is mesmerizing
Oooveralls
Regarding Diedrich Knickerbocker, he was actually an invention by Washington Irving, as a character in the History of New York. However, there is an actual Knickerbocker by the name of Herman, who was Irving's friend
Growing up in Southern California with Spanish speaking parents I always used Jumper as a word for a bounce house, mostly because in Spanish the word for Bounce House is Brincolín (literally Jumper)
En España le llamamos"castillo/casa hinchable"
A jumper in the UK is a wooly sweater. A sweater is the type of jumper material that gym sweaters are made from. A cardigan is a jumper that zips or buttons down the front.
I would say that "Trousers" and "Tights" aren't uncommon here in the US, as I've been aware of these terms ever since I was very little here in the Midwest, while I was not aware of "pants" or "jumpers" until as an adult watching quite a bit of New Doctor Who.
"Trousers" here has a slightly different nuance, as it sounds like a somewhat formal, dressy, or even slightly stodgy form of pants.
Tights are like panty hose that are a little thicker, and provide more coverage, which allows them to be warn on the outside by ballet dancers and in certain sports. "Tights" are also considered traditionally unisex while "panty hose" traditionally more feminine.
Nice that you used the lumberjack picture for both meanings for suspenders! 😅
In some parts in the US, older people call blue jeans "dungarees"
We also call that type of vest a waistcoat, in the US, vest is a more general term that can be used for any sleeveless over garment, but usually refers to a heavier type worn in the winter or fall, over a sweater, sweatshirt or hoodie. But usually under other jacket or coat, if one is worn in addition.
Lmafo, putting the pants over the eggplant was so good
"I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK
I sleep all night and I work all day..."
There’s hardly any articles of clothing that are the same. It’s crazy but I guess it’s because the clothes that we wear now are so different from before the American revolution that we started off calling them something different even though it’s the same language
Excellent point about how much our clothing has changed!
Rubber boots?
Rain boots or galoshes. I've also heard them called duck boats (or duckies).
Indeed. "Rubber boots" is more common in Canada, where they're also called gumboots.
@@reillywalker195 Given the "American" is shown with the USA flag, instead of the giant Maple Leaf, I believe my incredulity is still founded as I have not heard the term "rubber boots" used for rain boots in "America".
(Yes, fully aware that Canada is in The Americas but I do not believe it was meant to be considered as part of "America")
i call them gumboots
I call them muck boots
In Australian English each piece of clothing is,
Nappy’s
Underpants / Underwear / Undies
Panties / Briefs
Pants (Trousers are business pants)
Tights / Leggings / Stockings (Are the thin material)
Gym Shoes / Tennis shoes
Sneakers / Runners
Gum Boots
Jumpers
Sleeveless Dress
Bracers
Vest
Singlets
Overalls (cover the whole body)
We also use waist coat to refer to a formal vest, and I've heard knickers here and there but it seems a bit old fashioned
What about trakky daks?
A common confusion even in the US--
Garters tie over your stockings, to hold them up. They're made of elastic or cloth and go above or below your knee, depending on era.
A garter belt is a garment that goes around your waist and has straps that hang down and attach to your stockings, designed to act in place of garters.
I love your videos, btw, just wanted to clear the garter thing up.
I thought garters are only worn at weddings, to give the groom something to eat. And there are lots of garter snakes in the US (there aren't really any garden snakes or gardener snakes).
@@t71024 Heh, something to eat.
Yeah, I think "real" garters nowadays are rare, outside of ceremonial or costume wear, or the historical dress/reenactment community. Suspender/garter belts are great--you're not constricting your legs at all.
I would guess garter snakes were so named because their stripey pattern looks like the patterns you saw embroidered in garters "back in the day."
Thank you so much for the wonderful "show". My parents came from the U.K. and did use certain terms... like flannel for face cloth. But now, as I speak to my friends over in U,K., and DO talk about clothes, we end up laughing so hard. If I say I was wearing suspenders, they say, why?? I say, To hold my pants up. After the laughing is done, they explain what suspenders are to them. And of course, it goes the other way around. Now, because of you, next time clothes come up in conversation, I'll be able to picture what they are saying. But the laughter shall carry on. Thanks once again, and hugs. U.K. Canadian ;-))
So "get in (person)'s pants" makes more sense in Britain.
TV people in Australia all hope their program will "rate its pants off".
We studied the play 'Death of a Salesman' in A level English. We all thought it hilarious that the football playing son, Biff, was described as wearing knickers in several scenes.
Of course the New York Knicks basketball team are also named after Knickerbockers.
Ha! I love that you used a still from The Lumberjack Song for suspenders. Bravo.
I love the reference to the lumberjack song when talking about suspenders and now the Monty python skit is even funnier to me as I now know that it sounds different to americans then how it sounds to me a british person
My grandmother, born in 1910, who lived in Missouri the last few decades of her life, always used the word trousers. And I still often call rubber boots galoshes.
My understanding of dungaree in southern US is any kind of jeans other than Levis. If you were wearing Levis you always called them Levis, but other jeans such as Lees were called dungarees. Overalls usually meant bib overalls, while coveralls were full-body garments such as a jump suit. I also thought the word was related to dung, because these pants were used in ranching.
In New England (up to my mother's generation) "dungarees" referred to any denim jeans, including Levis. When I was a kid, you never heard anybody's mom say: "put on your Levis". It was: "put on your dungarees". Whatever brand they were.
Despite being American, I actually used the term gym shoes bc I owned multiple pairs of sneakers, but only one pair of them were fit for athletics so those were the only ones I used for gym class
I've heard dungarees in reference to underwear in the US. Along with skivvies, briefs, long johns (for thermal underwear), whites, and "Crappers" (i think that ones just my dad lmao)
Also, I have still heard knickers in the US, although it's only in reference to "bloomers" which are almost exclusively worn by very old women or toddlers (usually over a diaper), so I wonder if it's a generational thing.
Dungarees as underwear? I hope just using the term, not that they actually were underpants made of thick, stiff denim material held together with brass rivets for durability. ...Although now that I say it out loud, it sounds like there might actually be a hilarious and/or horrifying story behind that, if that actually were the case.
Some of these I wonder about. I'm a female in the US, I've never heard of any piece of clothing colloquially referred to as a jumper. But I loved learning about the origins of pants. lol It's rather unfortunate, isn't it? Thanks again for a wonderful video.
At my catholic school the little girls wore a dress-sort of one piece that was called a jumper. I'm not sure if it's colloquial as a term though.
I’m a male in the US, and I’ve only ever heard “jumper” used for a piece of clothing from Brits and Aussies. I would only use it for something/someone that jumps and for the cable used to recharge a car battery using another car battery.
Pretty sure I've seen it used in some books I've read, but I'd wager it's an archaic term that just doesn't get used anymore.
Fellow American girl here who likes to sew & likes vintage style clothing, & who especially loves to look through my granny's pattern stash, & she had several jumper patterns. It seems to be a popular style of garment worn in the 60's & 70's. My Mom grew up wearing them. I have a few I've made & they're especially nice in winter. :D
what do you get if you cross a sheep and a kangaroo? A woolly jumper!
Growing up in Namibia I’m actually really surprised at how many of the American versions we use down here...We have a lot of our own versions of names too😅 Like a sweater/jumper we always just called jerseys
posh people call jumpers, jerseys in the U.K.
@@katie7308 In the US, Jerseys are only for sports and places to store your abrasive Italians.
Some of the British names for things are used in America for the more formal options. For example, if I'm wearing a three-piece suite, then the piece under my jacket might be called a waist-coat (especially in Black Tie) but if I'm wearing casual clothing, a similar piece made from denim would be a denim vest. This might come from the influence of England on business and formalwear.
Clothing fun fact: the word "Skirt" is the from same root as the word "Shirt." It was borrowed from different Scandinavian languages at different times, when a tunic-length clothing item was either worn wrapped around the waist or over the shoulders. In different regions, the pronunciation and usage differed, but became standardized as the different clothing items we use today.
Also, we Americans have lots of words for shoes. Sneakers, Gym shoes, Tennis shoes, ("tennies") street shoes ("streets"), trail runners, and (in some places) moccasins ("mocs") are all approximately the same shoes. Mocs aren't laced (or use permanent stretchy laces) while gym/tennis shoes must have laces. Streets can be hook-and-loop (velcro) or laces. Trail runners tend to have more traction. Moccasins also refers to leather footwear used by certain Native American tribes, which can get confusing, depending on where in the country or world you find yourself.
any skin tight garment that covers the legs are a pair of tights in US english, pantyhose specifically refers to "mesh nylon stockings" the thin, see through strechy skin tight garment generally worn by women under their skirts/dresses.
American here, weighing in on trousers: in my experience, it's generally been a term used by older folks (my grandparents' generation, now in their 80s-90s) to refer to medium-fancy full-length leg garments. I think it would go, from highest-quality to lowest: dress pants (usually part of a suit, but broadly applied to anything of that style/quality), slacks (usually khaki), trousers (can be more heavy-duty khaki), and jeans. Collectively these would be known as pants, but coming from a time and place where you wouldn't be caught dead wearing jeans to church or slacks to work in the field or whatever, the distinction between different grades of pants was quite important.
I always knew Dungarees as Pants/Trousers that the US Navy "Bell Bottoms" used.
The American word “Boxer” seems to come from the Swedish word for “pants” which is “Byxor” and the Danish and Norwegian “Bukser”.
Nah its "boxer shorts" as in the shorts that boxers wear in the ring.
@@unclejoeoakland it would be difficult to rule either of these possibilities out.
The British say boxers as well.
Don’t the British have a “holiday” where guys go out in public in their boxers? I believe that it is called boxer day.
@@davidroddini1512 Er, nope, not as a thing. There may be some charity or such that does it as a local event (or even national event), but I've never heard of it. Certainly is not a recognized holiday.
We have Boxing Day, which is the day after Christmas day. There is no requirement to run around in your pants, however. :)
I used to live in the states, I’ve always called tights tights. Also I’ve never heard of “rubber boots”, but I’ve heard of “rainboots”.
As someone who likes crafts, I _knew_ “dungarees” immediately rang a bell. It’s a very good cloth!
I feel like ‘tights’ is definitely overtaking the word ‘pantyhose’ in the US especially as tights sales are increasing and pantyhose decreasing. Soon, there will be no difference in wordage
Same, I’ve only used rain boots and in the south we call sneakers “tennis shoes”
As an American, me and most of the people I know, call "Rubber Boots" "Rain boots", as you wear them in the rain. Also, waistcoat and vest are pretty much interchangeably. Although vests seem to be used more for sleeveless coats and sweaters. And at least in my family, vests are also feminine waistcoats.
I always thought of vests as going under all the other upper layers and having no sleeves (i.e. a tank top)
In my experience, we do use some of these. Trousers, usually used by older people or if talking about business casual-ish pants. Tights are also used. I believe they refer to a certain style of pantyhose like garments. Dungarees, also mainly used by older people and just referring to any denim clothing. Gym shoes is rarely used. Can't recall ever hearing it in person. They're pretty much all just tennis shoes in Baltimore or sneakers in New York. There was a period in time where jumpers were what some people called overalls. Which makes sense given that it's a sleeveless dress with no collar you wear over a blouse, which is how you'd wear overalls in the 90s lol.
In Ireland, we call trainers/sneakers "runners", and we use "pants" to refer to jeans, shorts, slacks, etc, while underwear for men is called "underpants" (women's are knickers), and has a subtype called "boxers" (they have a squarer shape than Y-fronts, which are more triangular).
Also, what does "pumps" refer to in the UK in terms of shoes? In Ireland, "pumps" are flat shoes with a closed, normally round toe, and no upper (in America these are "flats" or "ballet flats") while in America, "pumps" are high heeled versions of the above (I haven't heard "pumps" used to describe a heeled sandal, or anything with a wedge heel in America) (in Ireland, these are just "heels", or "heeled pumps" if you want to be specific, or occasionally "court shoes" when the heel is low and/or thick). I've often had to explain to my American friends that when I say "pumps" I don't mean stiletttos, so I'm curious as to what the situation is in Britain (or Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or anywhere else for that matter)
From oldham, pumps are what he refers to as plimsolls in this video.
If you say "braces" in America, most people will think of dental appliances that are used to straighten teeth -- ranging from metal bits and wires that are directly affixed to the teeth to a series of graduated molded retainers (marketed here as "Invisalign") that do the same job.
And any American Monty Python fan already knew about the other meaning of suspenders thanks to the same image you used in that bit... The Lumberjack song, and the line "I cut down trees, I wear high heels suspendies and a bra..."
But suggestion for net British/American difference -- appliances. I happen to know that this area is absolutely rife with differences.
In most finer clothing shops I've seen waistcoat used for something that goes with a suit, and vest for something that is meant to be worn independently of a jacket.
usages of these words are all affected by whether they're in fashion - eg no-one wears three-piece suits anymore (the 80s wanted them back) and I remember knitted vests around the same era but not sure people wear them anymore either - maybe they do in cold climates.
The US has dungarees, too. Ours are a type of trouser made out of canvas or sturdy denim....they are basically study blue jeans one might use for manual labor rather than a lighter denim used for comfortable fashion.
I like to slip the word "dungarees" into my American English when referring to denim work pants like Levi's, just to see if I can get away with it. I never can. On the other hand, people usually don't call me out on it if I refer to them as "bluejeans," instead of just "jeans."
Interesting side note, the word "denim" comes from the French city Nimes-- it was cloth "de Nimes." So the very quintessentially American bluejean is, in a certain sense, a French item. (Well, the fabric is, even if the style isn't.)
These videos are always fun from my Australian perspective as Australian English, while in many ways very similar to British English, tends to fall somewhere between the two; often both the American and British names are in common use, at least in my experience.
So here are the names I use or hear used for these clothing items.
'Nappy', not 'diaper'.
'Underwear' is the most common term here, and it's completely gender-neutral.
'Knickers' is a word that's used for women's underwear, though these days it would be more common just to say 'underwear'. I heard 'knickers' a lot more often as a kid.
We also say 'underpants' sometimes.
'Pants' is used in the American sense.
'Trousers' means the styles of pants you might wear with a suit or your school uniform. A sentence like "It's a formal event, so wear trousers," would mean "wear dress pants, not jeans or trackies."
The word I always used growing up was 'stockings' but these days I usually hear 'tights'.
All athletic shoes are called 'sneakers' here.
The rubber boots you might wear in rain and mud are 'gumboots'
'Jumper,' not 'sweater'.
And therefore 'pinafore' not 'jumper,' though I never knew that.
'Suspenders' not 'braces'
Usually just 'garters,' not 'garter belts,' but definitely not 'suspenders'.
A 'waistcoat' is the formal wear garment with no sleeves.
A 'vest' is like a jumper with no sleeves that you'd wear in mildly cold weather.
And the garment that's like a t-shirt with no sleeves, which you might wear under a t-shirt is called a "singlet".
And 'overalls,' not 'dungarees,' and therefore 'coveralls' not 'overalls.'
Then we in Australia have picked and chosen our clothing names from both sides of the Atlantic, though I found myself relating to the US names for most things just a bit more, despite Australian English generally being more aligned with British.
A single-piece garment with leg and arm coverage and meant to protect underclothing (like overalls) is generally called a "union suit" for fairly clear reasons (there is no split between top and bottom).
Undershirts are white and almost always cotton. T-shirts have color and looser fit. A sleeveless shirt is a "tank top" or occasionally, if referring to the undershirt type, a "wife beater" (probably from 1950s era films where it's a visual shorthand for violent drunk).
Knickerbockers, is the official full name of the New York NBA team.
Dungarees has some use in American English, it is/was the standard Navy term for work clothes and recognizable enough that there is a chain of Laundromats/Bars in my town called "Dirty Dungarees" (alliteration is a powerful hook).
Sneakers also overlaps with the old term for Detective, "gumshoe". Apparently, Detectives wore (dress style) rubber-soled shoes, because they were much quieter. Of course, that's on pavement, basketball games are famous for the squeaking you will hear constantly.
Australia picks up a mix of both UK and US terms. Here's my take:
UK: nappy, not diaper
US: panties, not knickers (but we do have the saying "don't get your knickers in a twist/knot")
US: pantyhose rather than tights (we use tights for thicker, often woollen, version)
UK: wellies (you don't expect us not to shorten "Wellington boots", do you?!), not rubber boots
UK: jumper rather than sweater (sweatshirt sometimes used in exercise clothing)
UK ish: pinafore is sometimes used only for that specific type of dress. A jumper is not a dress.
UK: braces not suspenders
UK: therefore suspenders not garter belt (but brides may wear a garter for this purpose. Otherwise, garters used to be used to hold up men's sleeves or long socks.)
US: Vest, but waistcoat is an older used term.
Neither: singlet, not vest or undershirt, although vest was sometimes used and is becoming more common. (I've heard the saying "as useless as a pocket on a singlet")
US: overalls - we have no idea what dungarees are
Neither: overalls or coveralls - we'd usually use a name specific to the purpose, although coveralls is occasionally used
So I make that 6 to UK and 4 to US. FWIW.
Tights and pantyhose are two separate things in the US; also I don't think I've ever said gym shoes in my life 🤣 tennis shoes
I just called them shoes
Chicagolanders tend to call them gym shoes.
I am an American and have been a heavy reader for decades. The word dungarees routinely appeared in American books written prior to the mid-1950s. It was applied to a type of heavy-duty work trousers of the type worn by manual laborers. It was also applied to the trousers we now call blue jeans. I don’t think I have ever heard dungarees used in casual conversation but I was born after the term had fallen out of common usage.
In Australia, we use the word Singlet for what the British call Vest and the Americans call Undershirt
Yip, here in NZ we call them singlets too. We call knickers "undies" and "jocks" whereas you Ockers call them "budgie smugglers"! :D
Overalls are usually in two parts jacket and dungarees what you are calling overalls (a one piece item) is usually know in the UK as a boiler-suit
I grew up in Brooklyn, NY in the 1960s and 1970s. I remember referring to any garment made from blue denim as dungarees, especially pants (trousers) but also a jacket.
New York’s team in the NBA (National Basketball Association) is called the Knickerbockers, or Knicks for short.
And fittingly, the bottom part of a basketball uniform is a pair of trunks that the British might call knickers, but worn outside.
Us aussies get a mix of both. Trousers vs pants is interesting for me as they pretty much are the same but trousers feels more formal while pants are casual
Yeah, in much of Britain pants is just a casual way of saying trousers.
That's pretty much the case in Canada and the United States, as well.
In New England, people used to use the term "Dungaree" to refer to denim. The plural: "dungarees" referred to denim jeans. Coveralls (we say "overalls" too, BTW) may have been made of "dungaree" (denim), but they weren't called "dungarees".
Also, in some parts of America (the south and California) people call sneakers/trainers "tennis shoes". Whether they're meant for playing tennis or not.
In the US “Trousers" is often considered to be a subset of leg coverings, often associated with “slacks” or the bottom part of a suit combination “Jacket and Trousers”. Love the illumination.
I'm from Lancashire and we were brought up using the word Pants for Trousers and underwear was underpants
Yeah, I think pants being underwear must be a southern thing.
My dad used the term dungarees for blue jeans. When I was in elementary school, I used the term tennis shoes for the shoes I wore for PE class. When I got to junior high and became a runner, I used the term running shoes, and probably started to use more specific terms for other shoes. I’ve never like the term sneakers. I’d probably use gym shoes or tennis shoes for a generic athletic type of shoes.
When I was a kid (I live in the US), I wore tights and as an adult I wear pantyhose. Because if how those words where used around me I always thought that tights were like pantyhose that weren’t see through, like knitted kinds or the thicker kinds kids wear and pantyhose where the shear kind.
That’s the only difference really
German seems to have adopted mostly the US versions e.g. sweater, sneaker. however we use the word overalls like the Brits and a vest ("Weste") is something like a cardigan, hoodie (with a zipper) or waistcoat for us. The words underpants and pantyhose remind me of the German word for pants, which is "Hose". Our underwear is called "Unterhose" and pantyhose would be "Strumpfhose" (a combination of the word for long socks and the word for pants).
We also use the word "pullover", that you didn't mention. It's like a sweater only warmer.
Pullover is the standard German word, but in most stores it is called "Sweatshirt". While Pullover seems to be correct since you pull it over your head for wearing (despite of pull and over not being German words), I cannot understand the German "Pullunder" : pull-under but which is sort of a sleeveless sweater, normally worn over a long-sleeve shirt...
@@saibot2957 a sweatshirt is usually lighter than a pullover, but it might be used like that. i don't use the word "Pullunder" but that might be because I'm Austrian.
I’m glad I found this great educational channel!
We do have tights. They’re more substantial than pantyhose. Pantyhose are see through while tights are not.
I'm from Appalachia in America. We call pants/trousers, britches.
Also here braces are a suspender that button inside the britches and suspenders are suspenders the clip to the top of your britches.
Dungarees is sometimes used for jeans [regional?] in the US, overalls and coveralls are both used but it varies by type as well as region in the US. I once had an odd conversation with a British colleague when I asked if I should wear a vest with my suit because it matched my pants it was a 3-piece suit but wearing the vest might have been too formal. I don't know why knickers weren't addressed, as they are required, traditionally, for golf with knee-length stockings., young men used to wear them, but not for a century. Another wonderful video.
There are quite a few Dutch words, expressions and things in the Hudson valley
Trousers is used in the southern part of the US, but specifically it tends to have a connotation of both old-fashioned and upper-class.
Some others....
UK Boiler Suit / US Coveralls.
UK Safety Helmet / US Hard Hat (although that seems to be getting more common here in UK)
It's interesting how some of these are different in Canada. Like something that covers your whole body is often called a jumpsuit here, a long sleeved thing with a hood is a hoodie, a jumper refers to what some people call a romper, basically a dress but the bottom is shorts, often with snaps in the bottom for ease of bathroom use. And we call thick tights (or leggings), tights, while the thinner ones are nylons, due to them being made of nylon. Although for most of them, we use the American terms due to proximity, despite using British spellings for most things, which the exception of using z more often, like realize not realise.
From greater manchester i've always known pants to be any full length leg wear, and trousers are a formal type of pants, and underwear or underpants worn underneath.
Also plimsolls as named in this video have always been known as pumps.
But..... a lot of these terms do get used in British English. Pants is used interchangeably with trousers in much of the country - and yes, that piece of clothing at the start would be called dungarees, but only with the straps over the shoulders - if they were full like a boiler suit, they would be called overalls - I grew up in 1970s Lancashire where my dad wore overalls to work and the lads wore school pants, not school trousers. And the word 'panties' is also used alongside knickers. Maybe these are incorrect as far as Standard British English goes, but there are huge areas of the country where they are the norm.
In the part of Canada (Toronto) that I grew up in, we used "running shoes" as the generic term for trainers/sneakers .
Here in BC, that often gets shortened further to "runners".
This is what I would call these as an Australian (disclaimer: I don't speak for all Australians, and I'm sure there is some variation between different states)
-Nappy
-Underwear/underpants
-Knickers or just underwear, the word panties is becoming more common due to American influence
-Pants. Trousers is sometimes used but it's much more formal.
-Tights and pantihose are both used but for slightly different things. Tights are made of thicker material, pantihose are made of very thin material.
-Running shoes. Some people also call them tennis shoes. My grandparents call them "sand shoes" which is not a term I've heard from any young person.
-Gumboots
-Jumper
-I honestly don't know what I would call that. I guess a pinafore but it's not a piece of clothing I've ever had to talk about.
-Suspenders
-Garter
-Vest
-Singlet
-Overalls
-Coveralls
In Australia we use both pants and trousers, however trousers is used for business style pants.
patrick, i am sorry if i am driving you crazy tonight but my daughter and i are enjoying your videos and i had to put in my 2 cents. you mentioned how knickers came from knickerbockers. the short pants that young boys used to wear were called knickerbockers and the NY basketball team the knicks were originally the ny knickerbockers. there was also an ice cream sundae named the knickerbocker. p.s. i just started my membership today with you on patreon.