A Petticoat!!??

[Riverkilt]

With the solid/tartan kilt poll I wound up digging out my OLD dictionary.

Back in 1962 my late aunt Virginia Macdonald gave me a 1961 copy of Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. At that time the Periodic Table in the dictionary only went up to 92 Uranium.

The word kilt is described as "A type of short plaited petticoat worn in the Highlands of Scotland by men; hence any similar garment.

I was also surprised to see Kiltie, Kilty, "One who wers a kilt, specifically a regimental kilt."

Anyhow...being curious to see why they described a kilt as a type of petticoat I looked up petticoat, "1.A skirt worn by women, girls, or young children, especially now an underskirt. 2. The garment that betokens womanhood; hence a woman or girl. 3. Something suggestive of a woman's skirt, as a valance for a table. 4. womanlike, womanish, pertaining to, exercised by, or wielded by women; as petticoat government."

Jeez Louise...maybe all them insults from smart guys are actually correct.

Curious how they can use the word petticoat to describe a man's kilt then not mention it under petticoat.

Visions of, "Hey dude, why are you wearing a skirt?" "Its not a skirt, its a petticoat!"

It is a U.S. published dictionary. But hey, we've come a long way in the last 46 years.

Ron
Feeling a little bit frillier and in touch with my feminine side when kilted...

[Fearnest]

Oh, WEBSTER'S... VERY nice...

Being around in the 60s, I'm surprised you don't use "Funk & Wagnall's" exclusively... (Hoooo! Have I just dated my TV viewing memories...)





(At least I didn't go HERE

[LordKiltClad]

kilt [kilt] noun
an item of Scottish national dress, a pleated tartan skirt reaching to the knees and traditionally worn by men
Arabic: كِلْتِيَّه: تَنّورَة يَرتَديها الرِّجال الأسكتلنديون
Chinese (Simplified): 苏格兰方格呢短裙
Chinese (Traditional): 蘇格蘭方格呢短裙
Czech: skotská sukně, kilt
Danish: kilt
Dutch: Schotse rok
Estonian: ðoti seelik
Finnish: kiltti
French: kilt
German: der Kilt
Greek: κιλτ (σκοτσέζικη φούστα)
Hungarian: skót szoknya
Icelandic: skotapils
Indonesian: pakaian adat Skot
Italian: kilt, (gonnellino scozzese)

Japanese: キルト
Korean: 킬트
Latvian: (skota tautastērpa) svārciņi
Lithuanian: kiltas, škotų sijonėlis
Norwegian: kilt, skotteskjørt
Polish: spódniczka szkocka
Portuguese (Brazil): kilt, saiote escocês
Portuguese (Portugal): saiote escocês
Romanian: kilt
Russian: шотландская юбка
Slovak: kilt
Slovenian: kilt
Spanish: falda escocesa
Swedish: kilt
Turkish: İskoç etekliği

[LordKiltClad]

American Heritage Dictionary 2006
kilt (kĭlt) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. A knee-length skirt with deep pleats, usually of a tartan wool, worn as part of the dress for men in the Scottish Highlands.
2. A similar skirt worn by women, girls, and boys.


tr.v. kilt·ed, kilt·ing, kilts
To tuck up (something) around the body.


[From kilt, to tuck up, from Middle English kilten, of Scandinavian origin.]

[staticsan]

The word kilt is described as "A type of short plaited petticoat worn in the Highlands of Scotland by men; hence any similar garment.

The words 'petticoat' and 'skirt' have changed meaning over the centuries more than most people realize. The word 'skirt' for a long time did not mean a separate garment, instead referring to the section of a coat or dress that hung from about the hips. What we now call a 'skirt' was for a long time called a 'petticoat'. It is only in the last 100 years or so that it became an under-garment.

Meanwhile, the practice of referring to the lower half of a dress as a 'skirt', whilst technically correct, gave rise to calling an actual garment that was just the lower half of a dress by the same name.

It's all fairly basic etymology.

Feeling a little bit frillier and in touch with my feminine side when kilted...

Aye. Although I deliberately put a kilt on the other week to do the manly task of dissassembling my printer/scanner to evict the ant-colony it had acquired...

Wade.

[turpin]

If petticoat comes from petit coat for the parts that hang below the waist, then we can refer to the fealidh beag as the petit kilt.

[brandycr]

Lol well learnt something new.

[Martin S]

Petticoat comes roughly from old French "petit" + "cotte" , which corresponds fairly closely to the original meaning of feiladh beg.

Petticoat -- a short version of a "cotte' or smock, the all-purpose long overall worn in bygone days, just as the moden kilt is a short version of the old one.

Martin

[davedove]

(At least I didn't go HERE

I don't know. I always wanted to go there.

[GMan]

The times they are a changin'