Panties, Knickers-or Nothing

That is, indeed the proper way to wear cycling shorts. If you don't believe me, just don cotton undies under your cycling shorts and go off for a long ride on a hot day. You will end up with a damp, sticky mess! Depending on how your undies fit, you also risk suffering some interesting chafing issues.

Well "panties" and "knickers" are all right but the same type of underwear that cheerleaders wear under their skirts are called "spankies." I like that term much better.

Bloomers.

In my opinion, whatever you call this feminine undergarment, be it panties, knickers or bloomers, they should always be taken down, when a naughty woman is to be corporally punished. Yes, a spanking should be given to her only on her bare bottom.

Not sure I agree with 'always' Six, because pretty underwear adds a certain something to the aesthetic of the situation.

Inclined to agree, though if she's wearing very brief knickers/panties or a thong, leaving nearly all the target area bare, it's quite fun to start off with them up, then announce "Right, young lady - time to get serious. These shamelessly revealing panties are coming down!" (Or something equally corny.)

'Scanties' used to be a term for wispy feminine underpinnings, in the inter-War era, as was 'skimpies'.

Perhaps we could compile a list of such terms, in chronological order of course, so our authors would have a handy reference to what to expect to see when raising the skirts of naughty young ladies of various time periods...!

Oddly enough, before I started reading and writing spanking stories I wouldn't have used the terms 'panties' or 'knickers' at all. My daughter and I wore 'pants'; my husband and son wore 'underpants'.

Now, where did the word 'drawers' originate? Did they perhaps have a drawstring?

I remember in the song "Sign," from the musical "Annie," which is set around the mid-1930's, Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks sings to Miss Hannigan (the girls' orphanage director), while showing her a photograph taken by a private investigator, "Here you're dancing in your scanties, with some old geezer called Little Caesar."

That's my only clearcut recollection of that term, but "skimpies" is one I've never heard.

Of course, here in the U.S.A. there's a professional basketball team called the New York Knickerbockers, usually shortened to "Knicks," obviously referring to boys' knee-length trousers from about a century ago--or actually (I'm guessing) "Father Knickerbocker," supposedly symbolizing New York City, whom that style of pants presumably was named after.

I'd agree that certain sporting apparel isn't designed to be worn with regular underwear, male or female--it is interesting that cheerleaders and female tennis players wear panties/knickers designed to be viewed in public, and that's considered quite acceptable. (How critically different are cheerleader 'spankies' and tennis panties from regular feminine underwear, hmmmm?)

"I see London, I see France..."

"Teacher, teacher, I declare..."

--C.K.

"Knickerbocker" was a general term used for New Yorkers, after an 1809 story by Washington Irving. Knickerbockers in particular were those of Dutch descent, and so the early aristocracy of New York (Wikepedia). Later, the name was transferred to boys short pants that buckled at the knee- I suppose because they were reminiscent of 18th century breeches. the real question is how this name got to England and why it was applied to the female undergarment. "Drawers" did indeed close with draw strings and were crotchless. "Panties" is a lot easier, deriving from small pants or pantalettes. Anyway, panties for me is the only truly erotic term, since I did not grow up with "knickers" except as the foolish looking shorts my father wore as a boy. "Underwear" for "panties" is anti-erotic to me. My mother and sisters and all other females wore "panties" when I was growing up. Better yet, the girls wore a brand called "Spanky Pants." And of course we have the brand "Spanx" today.