Bobinwales wrote: ↑Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:13 am
. . . pants in American English are trousers in the UK, Australia, New Zealand etc. "Pants" to us are underwear.
Well, tony h's comment went right over my head! Thanks for clarifying, Bobinwales. And hardee har-har, tony h!
So, I have a few corrections to make about the chart that tony h has posted:
"Wife-beater" is wrong on sooo many levels. Please do not use that name, ever, for what is usually called a "tank top".
Items listed as "briefs" or "Jockey shorts" (Jockey is a brand-name) are also called "whitey tighties". Though it probably has to do with the color of the briefs, "whitey" would be a racist term in another context. If anyone knows whether the reference is racist, then enlighten us, please.
I don't think I've ever heard an American speaker of English call rain boots, or rubber boots, "gumboots". I'm going to look more closely at that later.
The American word for the lacy loop to hold one's stocking up is simply a "garter". A "garter belt" is something else entirely.
The orange job at the end is definitely NOT "boxers" in Amglish. Boxer shorts are roomy box-shaped shorts that contrast with the tight briefs above. It's the big either/or question: briefs or boxers? "Boxers" might come from the shorts that fighters wear in the ring (not wrestlers, boxers), but I don't know -- and I don't have time to research it right now.