To refer casually to briefs-style men's underwear, is it Tidy Whities or Tighty Whities?
from Usernameblankface@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 19:47
https://lemmy.world/post/36214750

Which way would you spell it, and why?

#nostupidquestions

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MerrySkeptic@sh.itjust.works on 20 Sep 19:49 next collapse

Tight, because they are snug

Mike_The_TV@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 19:51 next collapse

Its Tighty whities

actionjbone@sh.itjust.works on 20 Sep 19:51 next collapse

“tidy” doesn’t make sense.

They’re literally tight.

meathorse@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 20:48 collapse

But in being tight, they keep everything in place and organized… Tidy!

meathorse@lemmy.world on 21 Sep 02:41 collapse

Well, I thought it was a valid argument! :)

JanMayen@quokk.au on 21 Sep 05:45 collapse

I think you’re onto something for sure.

breadsmasher@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 20:06 next collapse

“tidy” and “tighty” are not alternatives spellings, or synonyms

Tidy means well kept, clean, put away

Tight relates to how much the underwear is “gripping/holding” while worn

Usernameblankface@lemmy.world on 21 Sep 17:36 collapse

They’re not synonyms, but they are close enough that when said quickly they can be homonyms

breadsmasher@lemmy.world on 21 Sep 18:01 collapse

Thats very accent dependent

Usernameblankface@lemmy.world on 21 Sep 21:32 collapse

That’s a good point

[deleted] on 20 Sep 20:38 next collapse
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Nemo@slrpnk.net on 20 Sep 20:58 next collapse

tidy doesn’t rhyme, and, uh, in my experience doesn’t rescribe the briefs either

Apepollo11@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 23:53 collapse

No, I can see why some Americans might confuse them, with a “baddle of wadder” accent.

Deestan@lemmy.world on 20 Sep 22:04 next collapse

Tiddy Widdlers

Bubbaonthebeach@lemmy.ca on 20 Sep 22:27 next collapse

Tighty as opposed to loose boxers (before boxers were made out of stretch material and became tight as well).

Kolanaki@pawb.social on 21 Sep 02:42 collapse

Tighty-whities. They’re pretty tight, and also equally white.

My question is does the phrase specifically identify briefs, or would boxer-briefs also count? 🤔