XPost: alt.usage.english   
   From: wugi@brol.invalid   
      
   Op 1/07/2024 om 7:56 schreef Hibou:   
   > Le 01/07/2024 à 04:44, HenHanna a écrit :   
   >>   
   >> A pair of pants,    or    A pair of trousers   
   >>   
   >>                   ... ok because each Pair kinda looks   
   like  [2 pipes].   
   >>   
   >>     ...but...   
   >>               "a Pair of Panties" ?????   
   >   
   > There appears to be a class of things that exist only in the plural - a   
   > pair of tweezers, scissors, pliers, sunglasses... trousers, underpants,   
   > knickers, tights... - things that bifurcate or are made up of two bits.   
   > I suppose the briefer garments inherited the plural from longer ones   
   > (though a few minutes' searching yields no support for this; briefs were   
   > apparently in use in Ancient Egypt).   
      
   [...]   
      
   Why does English name all these things as pairs, being a single object?   
   Others like French have a few (lunettes, ciseaux).   
   Others like Dutch have none of it in plural or "dual".   
   Any historic reason?   
      
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   guido wugi   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)