Just something I've been wondering

[rock_dinosaur]

Pantyhose isn't a word that's used in the UK; we think of pantyhose as being the American word for what are universally known here as tights. However, I recently saw someone saying they wore tights when they were younger and didn't start wearing pantyhose until they were older, as if the words referred to two different things. Maybe they just didn'

Comments

[suzanna_o]

Interesting poll! This is kind of a regional thing, and I think that tights are also sometimes synonymous with leggings, that is, another kind of hose. But if a woman refers to pantyhose, I’d understand that she’s talking about translucent stockings, usually but not always neutral in color.

[rock_dinosaur]

Thank you for explaining; I honestly didn't know, and always just assumed them to be the same thing. It looks like it's a cultural/language difference; one amongst many, indeed. We wouldn't call tights leggings here, or vice versa, whereas translucent stockings with gusset and waist-high body would definitely be tights, regardless of colour.

Plenty of scope for confusion and misunderstanding!

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[tanyahyatt18]

[tanyahyatt18]

sometimes here in states women call tights like leotards which are thicker and call be wore like pants, but I have also hear Pantyhose called tights here in States too xoxo

[rock_dinosaur]

"tights like leotards" Yeah, we would call those leggings, whether they're ordinary stretch fabric or shiny lycra/spandex. Definitely not tights. Now I see why I was confused!

[sheilahyatt14]

just goes to show you have things mean others things depending where you live xoxo

[rock_dinosaur]

It seems like the UK and USA almost always use different words to mean the same thing or the same word to mean different things. There's a lot of scope for misunderstanding. This one with tights and pantyhose is a whole lot more confusing than I'd realised!

There's also pants, panties, underpants, knickers and trousers. That's a whole can of worms! 😂