helen-epic:

It’s insane that pants were named after a fictional character who wore pants

I especially love what this does to the British meaning of “pants.” It came from a character who was weird for wearing trousers that were specifically longer than knee breeches….and now it refers to underpants, which are the shortest pants of all. LMAO.

I mean… I do see how the etymological journey happened, though.

(Including, I think, an era where some underpants were trouser-length pantaloons! A very rich and fascinating history of both fashion and language.)

Also! The name “Pantaleone” apparently means “all-compassionate,” meaning the “pan” part is the same as in “pantheon” (all the gods), “pantomime” (imitator of all), and “pantophobia” (fear of everything).

So if you tried to apply the very root of that word origin to the clothes…. then, once again, you’re using a name meaning “everything” for pants that cover almost nothing, and I think that’s both ultimately meaningless and very beautiful.