Unscientific research...

[bunn]

If you wanted to buy some cheapo leg-coverings in an informal sort of style online, that were NOT chinos or jeans - what would you google for?

- Pants (as in, cargo pants, jogging pants, combat pants)

- Combats

- Trousers

- Other

Any assistance from anyone not habitually naked from the waist down would be *greatly* appreciated...

Comments

[chainmailmaiden]

Depends what sort of price you think is cheap. Hawkshead always used to be good for cheap trousers, but now they seem to be expensive (£25) unless you buy 2 pairs in which case it's 2 for £30. They don't seem to have such a big range on-line now either.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Actually, I was approaching it from the other angle. I have been retained by a seller of very cheap trousers, who want people to come to their website. Their website uses the words 'pants' pretty much exclusively.

To me, pants are things you wear *underneath* your trousers, and if I were googling for them, I'd be expecting - well - knickers, I suppose. I was wondering if anyone would think it normal to google for 'pants' if they wanted trousery thingys.

[chainmailmaiden]

Ah, ok, I'd probably go for trousers in that case. Unless it was a specific type like combats. Pants to me are the things that go underneath too, but since coming back from America, Bacchus is insisting that underpants go beneath pants and correcting me. I am, of course, ignoring him :-)

[the-marquis.livejournal.com]

Pants is American for trousers, and thus Superman's knickers on the outside is explained :D

So to my mind the best bet would be to go for pants, trousers, chinos, cords, menswear, cargoes, cargo trousers, combats, leggings, long trousers.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

If it's a UK seller, with a UK website, which will be selling to UK people, I think they should use "trousers." I think most British people are aware that those strange American people call them "pants", but they wouldn't type "pants" into a search engine, not if they were trying to buy such things in the UK.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

That was my instinct, but after the recent revelations about the word 'quite' (which I had previously felt I knew well!) I felt the need for other opinions.

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

On this subject, has anyone come across the subtle American difference in the use of "evidently"? - Neuromancer

[tovaglia.livejournal.com]

Definitely trousers for UK market (thought I'd better say in case anyone thought I was habitually naked from the waist down).

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Ha! That was my cunning plan to encourage people to answer!

[tovaglia.livejournal.com]

Although, come to think of it, if women's trousers you may also want to add a word describing the particular style of trousers (you know: boot cut, low rise, high waist, extra long, cropped or whatever). If the trousers don't have a style as such, that makes them "straight leg". This usually goes with elasticated waists.

[jane-somebody.livejournal.com]

Belatedly - anything but pants, assuming I was clicking the 'pages from the Uk' option: I'd be worried about getting porn (though, I suppose porn generally involves no-pants. Maybe dodgy web-cam things of aging lotharios.) I'd use combats if that was specifically what I was looking for, otherwise maybe "casual trousers".