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Usenet Posted 21 years ago
Usage
Bikini bottoms?
Let me try to bring some sunshine into these cold days.
I just read a text where someone used the term 'bikini bottoms' and found it strange that it should be plural when the text clearly referred to one single item.
My understanding of the term is this: a bikini consists of two parts; the top part and the bottom part - or simply the top and the bottom. (I don't see 'bottom' as an anatomic reference. It's mere coincidence that the bottom part covers the bottom of the wearer.)
I have never heard anybody talk about 'bikini tops' when talking about a single item. It was always 'bikini top' or simply 'top'. So why 'bikini bottoms'? Of course you could say, "Three women wearing colourful bikini tops," but then you would be talking about three of them.
Then it occurred to me that English words for garments which accommodate the two legs of a person are generally used as plural: trousers, breeches, jeans, pants, slacks, panties, knickers, briefs, drawers, shorts, leggings, tights. Also: Bermudas, dungarees, corduroys, and possibly some others I missed. The only exceptions I found are G-string and thong which are referred to in singular.
Is there too much material to a bikini bottom to let it fall in the same category as G-string and thong?
Gato Medio
I just read a text where someone used the term 'bikini bottoms' and found it strange that it should be plural when the text clearly referred to one single item.
My understanding of the term is this: a bikini consists of two parts; the top part and the bottom part - or simply the top and the bottom. (I don't see 'bottom' as an anatomic reference. It's mere coincidence that the bottom part covers the bottom of the wearer.)
I have never heard anybody talk about 'bikini tops' when talking about a single item. It was always 'bikini top' or simply 'top'. So why 'bikini bottoms'? Of course you could say, "Three women wearing colourful bikini tops," but then you would be talking about three of them.
Then it occurred to me that English words for garments which accommodate the two legs of a person are generally used as plural: trousers, breeches, jeans, pants, slacks, panties, knickers, briefs, drawers, shorts, leggings, tights. Also: Bermudas, dungarees, corduroys, and possibly some others I missed. The only exceptions I found are G-string and thong which are referred to in singular.
Is there too much material to a bikini bottom to let it fall in the same category as G-string and thong?
Gato Medio
Top answer
[nq:1]Let me try to bring some sunshine into these cold days. I just read a text where someone used the ... [/nq] No.
- [nq:1]Let me try to bring some sunshine into these cold days.
- I just read a text where someone used the ...
- [/nq] No.
- I believe the plural usage you described was in error.
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47 Answers
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[nq:1]Let me try to bring some sunshine into these cold days. I just read a text where someone used the ... there too much material to a bikini bottom to let it fall in the same category as G-string and thong?[/nq]
No. I believe the plural usage you described was in error.
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
No. I believe the plural usage you described was in error.
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
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[nq:2]Let me try to bring some sunshine into these cold ... let it fall inthe same category as G-string and thong?[/nq]
[nq:1]No. I believe the plural usage you described was in error.[/nq]
An error, maybe; but consistent with ordinary British usage for things with two leg-holes. Add to the list: track suit bottoms and pyjama bottoms.
Mike.
[nq:1]No. I believe the plural usage you described was in error.[/nq]
An error, maybe; but consistent with ordinary British usage for things with two leg-holes. Add to the list: track suit bottoms and pyjama bottoms.
Mike.
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[nq:2]Let me try to bring some sunshine into these cold ... plural when the text clearly referred to one single item.[/nq]
(snip)
[nq:1]No. I believe the plural usage you described was in error.[/nq]
"Bottoms" fits in with vague distant memories. I can find them described both ways. Here are some "bottoms" that are clearly one item:
Purple swimsuit has a floral print and yello
(snip)
[nq:1]No. I believe the plural usage you described was in error.[/nq]
"Bottoms" fits in with vague distant memories. I can find them described both ways. Here are some "bottoms" that are clearly one item:
Purple swimsuit has a floral print and yello
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[nq:2]Let me try to bring some sunshine into these cold ... Also: Bermudas, dungarees, corduroys, and possibly some others I missed.[/nq]
Chaps, boxers, trunks, underpants, khakis, chinos, speedos, bloomers.
[nq:2]The only exceptions I found are G-string and thong which ... it fall in the same category as G-string and thong?[/nq]
[nq:1]No. I believe the plural usage you described was i
Chaps, boxers, trunks, underpants, khakis, chinos, speedos, bloomers.
[nq:2]The only exceptions I found are G-string and thong which ... it fall in the same category as G-string and thong?[/nq]
[nq:1]No. I believe the plural usage you described was i
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[nq:1]Chaps, boxers, trunks, underpants, khakis, chinos, speedos, bloomers.[/nq]
[nq:2]No. I believe the plural usage you described was in error.[/nq]
[nq:1]I doubt it. "Bikini bottoms" sounds just fine to me, and there are 80,700 hits on the web. Singular "bikini ... it was a full-body garment, rather than essentially a pair of leggings. The more recent names (trunks, speedos) are plural.
[nq:2]No. I believe the plural usage you described was in error.[/nq]
[nq:1]I doubt it. "Bikini bottoms" sounds just fine to me, and there are 80,700 hits on the web. Singular "bikini ... it was a full-body garment, rather than essentially a pair of leggings. The more recent names (trunks, speedos) are plural.
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[nq:2]No. I believe the plural usage you described was in error.[/nq]
[nq:1]An error, maybe; but consistent with ordinary British usage for things with two leg-holes. Add to the list: track suit bottoms and pyjama bottoms.[/nq]
An American dictionary cite for that last usage:
From the *Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary* entry for the noun "bottom" at
[nq:1]An error, maybe; but consistent with ordinary British usage for things with two leg-holes. Add to the list: track suit bottoms and pyjama bottoms.[/nq]
An American dictionary cite for that last usage:
From the *Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary* entry for the noun "bottom" at
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Then it occurred to me that English words for
[nq:1]Chaps, boxers, trunks, underpants, khakis, chinos, speedos, bloomers.[/nq]
Undies, grundies. (Latter is a term I came across at boarding school, but haven't heard of anywhere else. Looking it up, apparently it's rhyming slang "Reg Grundies". But then why, in contrast to other rhyming slang expressions, has the "Reg" rather than the "Grund
[nq:1]Chaps, boxers, trunks, underpants, khakis, chinos, speedos, bloomers.[/nq]
Undies, grundies. (Latter is a term I came across at boarding school, but haven't heard of anywhere else. Looking it up, apparently it's rhyming slang "Reg Grundies". But then why, in contrast to other rhyming slang expressions, has the "Reg" rather than the "Grund
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[nq:1]I think that the above analysis is correct. Anything that's seen as essentially a pair of leggings, however short, is ... speedos, and bikini bottoms) the leggings have shortened enough to essentially disappear. (Originally, they would have been two separate pieces.)[/nq]
Indeed, there are some vulgar US dialects in which "underwear" is used for "underpants" and it takes a plural
Indeed, there are some vulgar US dialects in which "underwear" is used for "underpants" and it takes a plural
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[nq:2]I doubt it. "Bikini bottoms" sounds just fine to me, ... Singular "bikini bottom" sounds fashion- jargon-ish, like "pant" or "short".[/nq]
[nq:1]As an aside, there's more material to a bikini than there is to a bikini bottom (or bikini bottoms, whatever). There's also more material to a typical one-piece swimsuit. So why is neither of these plural?[/nq]
Because they're seen as full-b
[nq:1]As an aside, there's more material to a bikini than there is to a bikini bottom (or bikini bottoms, whatever). There's also more material to a typical one-piece swimsuit. So why is neither of these plural?[/nq]
Because they're seen as full-b
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[nq:1]Because they're seen as full-body suits (or descendents offull-body suits) rather than legged lower-body coverings (or descendents of same). An ... a perceived as pair of pants with an extension that goes over thebody rather than as essentially a full-body suit.[/nq]
New readers, see our discussion of "overalls" in the autumn. I don't think it's merely a matter of perception: they do see
New readers, see our discussion of "overalls" in the autumn. I don't think it's merely a matter of perception: they do see
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