To refer casually to briefs-style men's underwear, is it Tidy Whities or Tighty Whities?

Which way would you spell it, and why?

17 points · 15 comments · view on lemmy.world

15 Comments

MerrySkeptic@sh.itjust.works · 33 pts · 341d

Tight, because they are snug

actionjbone@sh.itjust.works · 23 pts · 341d (3 replies)

"tidy" doesn't make sense.

They're literally tight.

meathorse@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 341d (2 replies)

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

meathorse@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 340d (1 reply)

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

JanMayen@quokk.au · 2 pts · 340d

I think you're onto something for sure.

Mike_The_TV@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 341d
Bubbaonthebeach@lemmy.ca · 13 pts · 341d

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

Kolanaki@pawb.social · 9 pts · 340d

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? 🤔

breadsmasher@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 341d (3 replies)

“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 · 1 pts · 340d (2 replies)

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

breadsmasher@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 340d (1 reply)

Thats very accent dependent

Usernameblankface@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 340d

That's a good point

Nemo@slrpnk.net · 7 pts · 341d (1 reply)

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

Apepollo11@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 341d

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

Deestan@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 341d

Tiddy Widdlers

Diddlydee@feddit.uk · -3 pts · 341d
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