One thing I’ve always kind of wondered about — how come we say a “pair” of pants when its only one item of clothing. Other one items like a shirt or coat aren’t a pair. It seems like the bottom half of our clothes are plural for some reason — how come?
From what I’ve heard, it all stems from the history of language and how these garments were originally constructed and or conceptualized.
I guess maybe there’s some truth to that, but I decided it would be worth me digging into a little deeper — but not too deep.
Certainly we all accept that there are dozens of exceptions to the “rules” of English and pants certainly fall into that category — why on Earth do you say “a pair of pants” when the “pants” in question are only one item?
The most popular explanation is that the phrase “pair of pants” harkens back to the days when what constituted pants — or pantaloons, as they were originally known — consisted of two separate items, one for each leg. They were put on one at a time and then secured around the waist. Calling them a pair of pantaloons, or pants, as they were eventually known, made sense when there were two components. The phrasing was retained even after pants were made into one complete garment. But actually, if you look, there doesn’t seem to be much evidence to support this theory.
Another theory, that I kind of like because like most everything today, it’s a little complicated and confusing.
The word pants is a plurale tantum. What is that, you ask? The Oxford English Dictionary defines plurale tantum, which is Latin for “plural only,” as a “noun which is used only in plural form, or which is used only in plural form in a particular sense or senses.” The word pants is a plurale tantum so it can only be used in plural form. I guess I’ve led a sheltered life, but “plurale tantum” was new to me. Plurale tantum words are nouns and are usually items that can be divided into two even though they are only one item — like, scissors, tweezers, sunglasses, binoculars, pliers, glasses, etc. That’s the reason they are often preceded by a “pair of” — so — that’s why we say a “pair of pants.”
I guess I should probably have paid more attention in English class……
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