As I was dressing this morning I was struck once again with the question of why we call pants a pair of pants. We don't call a shirt/blouse a pair of shirts/blouses,so what's the deal with pants? As it turns out it is one of those questions that not everyone can agree on but the two most likely options are: 1. Before pants were made to be one article of clothing the legs were made separately then joined at the waist once both legs were in position. 2. According to the OED the word pants is a plurale tantum which is Latin for plural only. Plurale tantum nouns are items that can be divided in two but are only one item: binoculars,scissors,tweezers,glasses and pliers. The word pants comes from Pantalone a character in Italian comedy who wore long legs instead of the knee length apparel worn at that time.
With all that in mind it's now time to grow a pair!
With all that in mind it's now time to grow a pair!
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