XPost: alt.usage.english   
   From: vpaereru-unmonitored@yahoo.com.invalid   
      
   Le 02/07/2024 à 06:31, Hibou a écrit :   
   > Le 01/07/2024 à 12:38, occam a écrit :   
   >> On 01/07/2024 07:56, Hibou wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>> I observe that the kilt is singular - two legs, but only one hole.   
   >>   
   >> While in Aberdeen, the question arose: "what's the difference between a   
   >> kilt and a skirt? What do Scottish women wear?"   
   >>   
   >> The wittiest answer I got was that Scotsmen call it a 'kilt' to avoid   
   >> the embarrassment of having to admit that they are wearing a skirt.   
   >   
   > That may well be true; certainly one encounters considerable resistance   
   > among Scots, both men and women, if one calls a kilt a skirt. This, I   
   > think, is just a matter of time and place. At other times and places, it   
   > has been and is normal for men to wear skirts - Roman legionnaires did,   
   > for instance.   
   >   
   > According to the OED, the noun 'kilt' (~1746...) comes from the verb 'to   
   > kilt' (~1340...), at first meaning to tuck (skirts etc.) up round the   
   > body, and later also to gather in vertical pleats....   
   >   
   > "I'll kilt my coats aboon my knee, And follow my love thro' the water" -   
   > Burns, 1788.   
   >   
   > I have heard a tale of Scots soldiers in the First World War, of water   
   > freezing on the hems of their kilts and chafing their legs raw. Just the   
   > thought makes one wince.   
      
   Esprit d'escalier : it must've been tough to have to endure chafing on   
   top of chaffing.   
      
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