Difference in undwear terminology and attitudes on both sides of the atlantic.
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2020 6:49 am
Hi
I wasn't sure what topic to put this under, but....
I've been reading the site and I am interested in the difference in terminology around men's underwear and also the difference in attitudes. I am in the UK, by the way. Europe seems to broadly share terminology but in the US you use different terms and have different social norms.
Here in the UK if we say "pants" we mean underpants. However, it's often used both as a generic term for any underwear and to refer to what you might refer to as briefs or bikinis, which we don't see as much distinction between as you do in the US. A European brief is smaller than a US one and more fitted, usually with a distinct pouch. What you would refer to as "tighty whities" we would probably call y-fronts or old-mans pants and absolutely nobody under about 70 wears them as a general rule! If we mean "boxers" we would tend to say boxers and the boxer-brief would be included in that. Boxer briefs have become the predominant style over here, with their sub-styles, trunks, A-front, etc. The super-baggy boxer is now also seen as the underwear of the slightly older man. Children would wear our style of briefs (just termed pants) until they were old enough to request something different. When they did request this, they would likely ask for a boxer-brief style, although some boys will continue wearing what they have always worn.
In the shops, even in supermarkets, there is usually a range of both uk-style briefs, various boxer styles and y-fronts. The names of things in shops and common usage seem to vary somewhat, but what you would call a bikini is often labelled as a slip. Some manufacturers use mini brief and micro brief to describe the side height. Although not the most popular choice nowadays, they are still fairly common and not really frowned upon or seen as that unusual for a man to wear. What you call a string bikini, Europeans call a Tanga. This is starting to approach more adventurous territory, depending on styling but basic versions are still sold in mainstream shops.
Once we get into thongs, these are not so common and all but a few high-street retailers don't stock thongs for men. The term thong and string are often used interchangeably in Europe. For example, in France they don't use the term thong, but string instead, which is why all of Hom's line are referred to as strings even if they technically aren't.
For swimwear, if we say swimming trunks in the UK, we often mean a speedo style, but also it's used as a generic term for any swimwear. We all grew up wearing the speedo style and young children still do regularly. Swimming shorts didn't start to become really popular until the 90s. Even then we started wearing speedos to the pool but shorts to the beach. Speedo style is now seen as a little unusual but still not frowned upon in most contexts. You're more likely to see them worn by older men or those swimming laps. You can wear them anywhere, even water parks and family pools. Not to allow this would be deemed as discrimination under UK and European laws as women are allowed to wear this style. For the same reason a biological male could wear female-biased swimwear and vice-versa.The boxer-brief style tight swimming shorts are also popular and a lot of people wear these. In many European countries, for example France, it's actually illegal to wear baggy shorts in the pool for hygiene reasons. Public pools insist on either boxer-brief style or smaller, or even speedo style only, depending on local regulations. In these countries, nobody wears baggy shorts at all.
For women the one-piece swimsuit is the predominant style, although bikinis have become much more popular, as they are in the rest of Europe. Until relatively recently, the bikini was not really seen much in public pools. It was never actually banned but women saved these for foreign beaches and stuck to one-piece swimming costumes for the pool and UK beaches. We also have seen an increasing number of women and girls wearing shorts and rash vests or swim tank tops here in the UK in public family pools.
Thong swimwear should be OK on the beach in the UK, although you don't see men wearing thongs really at all. It would not be considered illegal though. You do see women wearing thong/brazillian/cheeky style here, but it tends to be the younger generation. Many but not all public family pools here have banned thongs for both sexes but this is down to the management not law. At a gym or spa pool or during an "adult swim" session, thongs should usually be okay.
In many places in Europe, on nudist/naturist beaches clothes are banned by law and you are not allowed to be clothed on them so by extension a thong is banned as well! Also, in many places in Europe, swimwear is banned on the public streets and is restricted to the actual beach, so you can't wander into the town still dressed in swimwear, you must change first.
So there you go, I hope some of you found this interesting
I wasn't sure what topic to put this under, but....
I've been reading the site and I am interested in the difference in terminology around men's underwear and also the difference in attitudes. I am in the UK, by the way. Europe seems to broadly share terminology but in the US you use different terms and have different social norms.
Here in the UK if we say "pants" we mean underpants. However, it's often used both as a generic term for any underwear and to refer to what you might refer to as briefs or bikinis, which we don't see as much distinction between as you do in the US. A European brief is smaller than a US one and more fitted, usually with a distinct pouch. What you would refer to as "tighty whities" we would probably call y-fronts or old-mans pants and absolutely nobody under about 70 wears them as a general rule! If we mean "boxers" we would tend to say boxers and the boxer-brief would be included in that. Boxer briefs have become the predominant style over here, with their sub-styles, trunks, A-front, etc. The super-baggy boxer is now also seen as the underwear of the slightly older man. Children would wear our style of briefs (just termed pants) until they were old enough to request something different. When they did request this, they would likely ask for a boxer-brief style, although some boys will continue wearing what they have always worn.
In the shops, even in supermarkets, there is usually a range of both uk-style briefs, various boxer styles and y-fronts. The names of things in shops and common usage seem to vary somewhat, but what you would call a bikini is often labelled as a slip. Some manufacturers use mini brief and micro brief to describe the side height. Although not the most popular choice nowadays, they are still fairly common and not really frowned upon or seen as that unusual for a man to wear. What you call a string bikini, Europeans call a Tanga. This is starting to approach more adventurous territory, depending on styling but basic versions are still sold in mainstream shops.
Once we get into thongs, these are not so common and all but a few high-street retailers don't stock thongs for men. The term thong and string are often used interchangeably in Europe. For example, in France they don't use the term thong, but string instead, which is why all of Hom's line are referred to as strings even if they technically aren't.
For swimwear, if we say swimming trunks in the UK, we often mean a speedo style, but also it's used as a generic term for any swimwear. We all grew up wearing the speedo style and young children still do regularly. Swimming shorts didn't start to become really popular until the 90s. Even then we started wearing speedos to the pool but shorts to the beach. Speedo style is now seen as a little unusual but still not frowned upon in most contexts. You're more likely to see them worn by older men or those swimming laps. You can wear them anywhere, even water parks and family pools. Not to allow this would be deemed as discrimination under UK and European laws as women are allowed to wear this style. For the same reason a biological male could wear female-biased swimwear and vice-versa.The boxer-brief style tight swimming shorts are also popular and a lot of people wear these. In many European countries, for example France, it's actually illegal to wear baggy shorts in the pool for hygiene reasons. Public pools insist on either boxer-brief style or smaller, or even speedo style only, depending on local regulations. In these countries, nobody wears baggy shorts at all.
For women the one-piece swimsuit is the predominant style, although bikinis have become much more popular, as they are in the rest of Europe. Until relatively recently, the bikini was not really seen much in public pools. It was never actually banned but women saved these for foreign beaches and stuck to one-piece swimming costumes for the pool and UK beaches. We also have seen an increasing number of women and girls wearing shorts and rash vests or swim tank tops here in the UK in public family pools.
Thong swimwear should be OK on the beach in the UK, although you don't see men wearing thongs really at all. It would not be considered illegal though. You do see women wearing thong/brazillian/cheeky style here, but it tends to be the younger generation. Many but not all public family pools here have banned thongs for both sexes but this is down to the management not law. At a gym or spa pool or during an "adult swim" session, thongs should usually be okay.
In many places in Europe, on nudist/naturist beaches clothes are banned by law and you are not allowed to be clothed on them so by extension a thong is banned as well! Also, in many places in Europe, swimwear is banned on the public streets and is restricted to the actual beach, so you can't wander into the town still dressed in swimwear, you must change first.
So there you go, I hope some of you found this interesting
That seemed to be much more of an era for the speedo than today. So I'll even take all the terrible fashion and music along with it. Seems like it was a simpler and more enjoyable time than our current times to be honest.