Why "Unbifurcate" ...?

[dstarkravingmad]

Ok, so my search for a better alternative to discomfort lead me to MUG's which lead me to XMarks. I like kilts above the various other forms of menswear which are ohter than p@nts (sorry, I'll try not to use such bad language)



But why do we use "unbifurcated" to describe the Kilt or even sarongs? The word makes 'bifurcated' or 'furcated' the root and therefore the norm when bifurcated clothing is really not the global norm. While a case may be made that it is a Western fashion norm, there are far more peoples in the world using non-furcated clothing for men than those that do not.

So, my question is; what word (other than "Kilt") would better describe the return to the norm of Kilted men as opposed to illustrating wearing the Kilt (or sarong, etc) as a deviant or rebellious behavior?

I thought of coining "Unicated" to replace "unbifurcated" for "uni-" meaning "one" and "cate" meaning... I don't know but derived from furcate. All I can find for "Cate" is a 1. a delicacy (food); 2. things bought; 3. to seek or catch.

Unicated sounds nice, though, right?

Short of it is I am not a deviant, I am a traditionalist and MUG sounds like a rebellion rather than the return to sanity that it is.

Not that rebellion isn't fun and all...

[CMcG]

Xmarks is a community of kiltwearers and so MUGS aren't really an acceptable topic of discussion around here... some members even think modern kilts are pushing it!

With this in mind and in answer to your question, I think "kilted" would be preferable to "unbifurcated." Unicated is interesting but, as a neologism, might lack the necessary signification capacities.

I'm pretty sure the majority of the world's population currently wears p@nts or sh0rts, so kilting up is definitely not the norm. That doesn't, however, make the kilt "deviant." Highland attire is noble, or at least should be, if one respects it as a Scottish national symbol. You might get more currency rebelling in an Alt.Kilt with steampunk fittings...

[Riverkilt]

Huevos Libre!

[Steve Ashton]

The term "MUG" and the use of the word un-bifurcated comes from Steven Villagas of the Utilikilt Co.

Steven did not originally want to call his product a kilt. The last time I had coffee with him he vehemetly denied that his product was a kilt or had any Scottish origin or similarity.

But he also knew that he would never sell anything if he called it a Utiliskirt. What to do, what to do? So he simply coined a new term. "Male Un-Bifurcated Garment".

The rest, as we know, is history.

[Jock Scot]

The term "MUG" and the use of the word un-bifurcated comes from Steven Villagas of the Utilikilt Co.

Steven did not originally want to call his product a kilt. The last time I had coffee with him he vehemetly denied that his product was a kilt or had any Scottish origin or similarity.

But he also knew that he would never sell anything if he called it a Utiliskirt. What to do, what to do? So he simply coined a new term. "Male Un-Bifurcated Garment".

The rest, as we know, is history.

Well well, I learn something new every day. Thank you for that interesting snippet Steve.

[Llwyd]

Huevos Libre!

Exactly....I think therefore I kilt.

[Father Bill]

Furcate: to divide
bifurcate: to divide in two (as in two legs)
unbifurcated: not divided in two - as in a kilt where both legs come out of the same round space.

[dstarkravingmad]

Furcate: to divide
bifurcate: to divide in two (as in two legs)
unbifurcated: not divided in two - as in a kilt where both legs come out of the same round space.

Yes, fatherbill, I have looked up the words and what they mean.
But how do we describe what it is rther than what it is not?
Here on this forum it is obviously "Kilt", and I think I am leaning more that way myself.

[Cowher]

It IS technically a rebellion and a revolution. Humans are created free, when oppressed they want a revolution and are therefor considered rebels to the established rule. It's a kilted rebel-ution.

[Pleater]

The description 'kilted' has a long association with rebellion against the social norms - although, admittedly, from the distaff side.

In several old English folk songs the young woman escapes the control of parents or husband and goes off to a new life, or she chase down a man who did her wrong with her garments/petticoats kilted up to her knee at a time when high class ladies wore skirts which swept the floor and showed scarcely the toes of her slippers.

So although undivided garments are the normal mode of dress for the majority of the Human race throughout history, to go kilted is to take the path less trodden.

Anne the Pleater