I don't think that goes there, Frank.
Hi guys! Welcome back to English with Max.
Today I am doing a video on something
that's not normally taught in English
classes. However, if you go to an
English-speaking country and you need to
buy clothes, this vocabulary can be quite
important. I am going to teach you
different words for...
underwear. As usual you'll find a full list of the
vocabulary in the infobox below.
Now this video is not just for the ladies.
I very recently discovered that there
are actually quite a lot of different
types of male underwear as well.
I'm going to teach you some general words,
but I'm also going to teach you some
more specific words. Okay, first let's
look at the general words. We'll start
with the word "underwear".
What is underwear exactly? Underwear is
anything that you wear under your normal
clothes. So something that's close to your
skin and is underneath your outer
clothes. It's the clothes that you're not
supposed to see. Underwear can include
bras, underpants or long underwear if you
live in a cold country.
Don't worry, I'll show you some examples later.
So yes, "underwear" is very general.
Sometimes when people say "underwear", they
actually are talking about underpants.
I know it's a bit confusing, but it's
normally clear from the context. What are
underpants? Underpants are these
things, or these things, or
these things. Underpants are anything
that have two holes for the legs that
you wear on the lower part of your body.
Remember that anything in English that
has two holes for the legs like jeans, or
shorts, or underpants is plural.
Something a bit interesting is that in the UK, when
people say "pants", normally they're referring to underpants,
but in Australia and the US, when we say
pants, we're normally talking about
trousers or jeans. So yeah, think about
where you are if you are talking about these things.
So underpants and underwear
are the two general words that
apply to both male and female clothes.
Let's now look at women's underwear.
I'm sure most of you know this one. This is a bra.
"Bra" is in fact short for the word
"brassiere", but we basically never use that
word anymore. Some younger native speakers
probably don't even know what that means.
It's quite funny, when I was a teenager,
my mother once said to my sister and me:
"Girls, nice underwear isn't necessarily
expected, but it is often appreciated."
Yeah, she was right. As mothers often are.
Now as I'm sure you know, there are lots
of different types of bras. You can find
nice pretty lacy ones like this, but you
can also buy quite plain ones like this.
When they're smooth here we normally
call them "T-shirt bras" because they're
easy to wear under a T-shirt.
You also have "strapless bras".
Of course they're called "strapless bras"
because they don't have any straps.
These are straps.
Strapless bras are quite handy if you have
a strapless top or a strapless dress.
For example, something like this.
This is called a "boob tube".
Yeah, I know it sounds a little bit
vulgar, but it's actually the normal,
standard word for a top like this.
And now we move on to women's underpants.
This is a little more complicated
because the most commonly used word will
depend on the country you are in.
"Underwear" and "underpants" are, of course,
universal, but in the US a common word
for women's underpants is "panties". And in
the UK a common word is "knickers". And if
you're interested in what we say in
Australia, a standard word is "briefs", but
we do sometimes say "knickers" or "underpants".
Of course, you have different cuts, so
different shapes, in women's underpants.
But basically you have two types:
You have these comfortable, cotton, practical ones.
Or you have these pretty, lacy ones.
I don't know about you if you are a girl watching,
but normally I only wear ones like this
if I think somebody might see them,
or if I don't have any of these left in the drawer.
Some girls, and guys, like to wear this type of underwear.
This is a G-string. "G-string" is a little
bit different to the other words that I
mentioned because it is singular.
So you do not say: "These are G-strings."
You have to say: "This is a G-string."
"Thong" is also a common word for this.
Some people say that there is a
difference between "thong" and "G-string", but honestly,
most people use them interchangeably.
Australians have to be a
bit careful though, because in Australia
these types of shoes are also called thongs.
When I was overseas I once said to
a group of people: "Have you seen my thongs?"
You can imagine the looks that I got.
I don't fully understand, to be honest, how
people can find these comfortable,
but I guess it's alright if it's for a special
occasion and you're pretty sure you're
not going to be wearing them for very long.
Frank, uh, no.
And now men's underwear! When I did my
"research" for this video I was actually
quite surprised as to how many different
types of men's underwear actually exist.
By the way, the reason why the tags are
still on these is because I bought these
at Kmart specifically for this video and
I plan to return them afterwards.
Yeah, a little bit cheeky of me.
The first ones, and I'm sure you know these,
are boxer shorts.
These are also referred to as "boxers".
I'm not a man so I can't tell you
whether I think these are more
comfortable than others.
I suppose it's personal preference.
These ones are traditional briefs.
If there is a short leg on them, they are no longer
called "briefs". They are called "trunks".
Now if the leg is even longer (down to here),
but they are still, you know, tight and stretchy,
then they are called "boxer briefs".
Unfortunately, I forgot to buy some boxer briefs,
but if you go and Google it you will find some pictures.
Some briefs and trunks have a sort of opening here.
I probably don't need to explain what that's for.
But, in any case, these are called "Y-fronts".
Nowadays sometimes they're called "fly fronts".
When it's a bit cold,
some men like to wear these things.
These are called "long johns".
Let's have a look.
This is what they look like.
When I lived in Europe I had
something similar to this, but they
weren't white and, like, this part right here
was a little smaller. For obvious reasons.
That's it for today guys. I hope you've
found this video educational. If you did,
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See ya next time!