Which word for sweater do you prefer?

[nice hat dude!]

I wouldn't! Tank Top is far too American for this Brit. Sleeveless jumper, I've always known them as.

No offence meant to any American readers!

Gareth

Look at that you worrying about the Americans getting offended ,completely forgot about the Brits and the Aussies..(haha)just kidding

 

[WideBrimm]

Generally speaking I go with SWEATER (wool) and SWEAT SHIRT (cotton). I just wonder how many variations exist in the English language for
"sweater"?

 

[nice hat dude!]

According to Websters New World Dictionary;sweater=a knitted or crocheted outer garment with or without
sleeves styled either as a jacket or pullover.But the OP was about what name do yourselves use for the item.

 

[galopede]

Really? When I was growing up in the 70s I definitely remember everyone calling them tank tops. Could have varied where you were in the UK, though.

you are right in a way Dave. The photo Nice Hat Guy posted was a sleeveless jumper. In the Seventies, the decade style forgot, the Tank Top put in an appearance. It was more of a knitted vest, british underwear vest that is. Much thinner shoulder pieces and a deep round neck. Hated them! Think Bay City Rollers!

I was born in 52 and saw then come and go!

Gareth

 

[Jamesbeat]

I'm from the UK, but moved here to the States three years ago.

I too say 'jumper', but only when I'm not concentrating. I try to use the American terms so that people can understand what I'm talking about, and also so that my two-year-old daughter doesn't get confused while she's learning to talk, but I tend to slip from time to time.

'Sweater' always sounded rather unpleasant to me, but when in Rome and so forth.

To me, 'suspenders' are an item of ladies lingerie, and of course 'pants' means underwear, which leads to many moments of private mirth for me

 

[nice hat dude!]

I'm from the UK, but moved here to the States three years ago.

I too say 'jumper', but only when I'm not concentrating. I try to use the American terms so that people can understand what I'm talking about, and also so that my two-year-old daughter doesn't get confused while she's learning to talk, but I tend to slip from time to time.

'Sweater' always sounded rather unpleasant to me, but when in Rome and so forth.

To me, 'suspenders' are an item of ladies lingerie, and of course 'pants' means underwear, which leads to many moments of private mirth for me

Sweater-big fat smelly guy profusely leaking huge amounts of perspiration,now what's unpleasant about that?

 

[bombin]

"Sweater" outside of the US seems to be reserved for athletic garments made of wool --- ones that would be likely to be sweat in.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I've never heard the word sweater used here. It's jumper, pullover, or knitted sleeveless vest.

 

[The Good]

I'm from the U.S. If not sweater, I would use pullover or jumper, although the first of the three is what I say most often. When referring to them in general and plural, I'd say knitwear.

 

[MikePotts]

I can't resist:


"...the wife got me a sweater for Christmas......I'd rather have had a screamer or a moaner, but...."

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Here in the UK I tend to use Pullover, Jersey, (Or Guernsey, if referring to an item of knitwear from that island where they originated from), or Sweater.

I have always thought that it is interesting how many different words there are for this type and styles of garment.

I think Sweater originated from the USA and Jumper had naval connections, then was used for ladies and childrens knitwear, but in recent years has come into general use alot in the UK and Australia. When I have visited New Zealand they were calling these garments Jerseys.

They word Jersey also has sporting connections, as previously mentioned, Football & Rugby Jerseys, also used in cycle racing speak, IE The Yellow Jersey worn by the winner in the Tour de France.

I have worked out there are at least 40 words used for knitwear garments and styles.

I am wearing a wool pullover/jersey as I am typing this infact, it's still quite chilly in the mornings and evening here even though today is the longest day of summer daylight hours in the UK.

 

[Smithy]

I'm a Kiwi and growing up it was mostly jumper or far less common, a jersey. As Stevieboy says above jersey was more common for sporting kit especially for rugby whereas a jumper was a knitted wool job. Never ever heard sweater back home.

 

[Retro Spectator]

I call a sweater a sweater. Because to me, it's called a sweater.

 

[bombin]

The Oxford English Dictionary doesn't note it as an Americanism, at least in its usage for sporting clothing, providing the definition:

"A woollen vest or jersey worn in rowing or other athletic exercise, orig. (cf. a) in order to reduce one's weight; now commonly put on also before or after exercise to prevent taking cold. Hence a similar garment for general informal wear; a jumper or pullover."

Where "cf. a" refers to a now archaic meaning:

"†a. pl. Clothes in which a horse or a man in training is exercised, to produce profuse sweating."


Examples of the 'sport' definition:

1882 E. A. Floyer Unexplored Baluchistan 74 "Barja is resplendent in my rowing ‘sweater’, covered by a scarlet blanket, worn as a coat."
1890 R. C. Lehmann Harry Fludyer 97 "As for Pilling [the cox], the little ruffian actually weighs over 8 stone; but we're going to make him run a mile every day, with four sweaters, and three pairs of flannel trousers on."


(I wonder if it has decreased in usage in the UK due to its prevalence in the USA. ["Soccer" is UK-coined word (cp. "rugger") whose employment by Americans seems to correlate with a decreased usage in the UK.])

 

[Hal]

The Oxford English Dictionary doesn't note it as an Americanism, at least in its usage for sporting clothing, providing the definition:
"A woollen vest or jersey worn in rowing or other athletic exercise...in order to reduce one's weight; now commonly put on also before or after exercise to prevent taking cold."

This definition covers modern British usage of the word.

"Hence a similar garment for general informal wear; a jumper or pullover."

On the whole, Britons don't use the word "sweater" in this sense; jumper or pullover are the usual words.

As has been stated above, "jersey" and "guernsey (ganzy)" are special types of jumper.
The term "sweater-vest" is certainly American; on this side of the Atlantic this garment is a slipover or a sleeveless pullover. The term "sweatshirt" was virtually unknown in Britain before about 1970 - I don't remember seeing the actual item before then. (A cotton pullover is also a recent - and excellent - newcomer.)

"Soccer" is UK-coined word (cp. "rugger") whose employment by Americans seems to correlate with a decreased usage in the UK.

This is a very apposite comment! "Soccer" comes from Association Football; the simple term "football" has been driving it out for at least 20 years. "Rugger" is an abomination only used by a very narrow stratum of society; the word "Rugby" is not normally abbreviated.

 

[bombin]

I think "soccer" was coined by the same stratum of society who coined "rugger" (it's part of the same clipping/abbreviating + suffixing -er colloquial process), and would have initially at least had the same sort of informal but 'posh' connotations; these don't seem to have transferred to the US, where it served as a happy alternative to "football".

 

[tropicalbob]

Grammatical structures are where it gets interesting. For instance, the much-maligned "Ebonics" (Black American Speech) has a great deal that is directly descended from 16th century British. "I be happy," I axe you a question," I like to die when I heard that," -- all from Shakespeare.

 

[bombin]

Grammatical structures are where it gets interesting. For instance, the much-maligned "Ebonics" (Black American Speech) has a great deal that is directly descended from 16th century British. "I be happy," I axe you a question," I like to die when I heard that," -- all from Shakespeare.

I'm not sure about "axe" for "ask" in Shakespeare, but it's certainly in Chaucer and Beowulf (so pre-dating Shakespeare by quite a bit). "Axe" for "ask" is actually found in quite a number of different modern dialects of English:

http://staefcraeft.blogspot.com/2009/10/beowulf-axes-questions.html

 

[Good Ol' Days]

I'm South African (living in Australia) and it's always been jersey to me. I always get caught off guard whenever someone asks me about a jumper.... my face haha.

 

[Ticklishchap]

"Rugger" is an abomination only used by a very narrow stratum of society; the word "Rugby" is not normally abbreviated.

I've just seen this interesting comment. 'Rugger' would be an 'abomination' in Wales, for example, or parts of Northern England: in the former, Rugby is a national game and in the latter it has strong working-class roots (Rugby League). 'Rugger' is associated with boys' boarding schools and as such was the term I grew up using. Games generically were known as 'eccer', a corruption of 'exercise'. The clipped masculinity of the language and the accompanying culture have limitations, but their attractions are also apparent in the age of constantly emoting tabloid journalism and reality TV. Off-topic a bit, this form of hysteria is not 'progressive' at all but is (I certainly believe) contributing to the current climate of populism and ethno-nationalism.

As for 'Rugger' itself, it was probably a beneficial experience overall. However, because I was in a House team, I had to continue with it through my A Level year so that it interfered with revision. In the Easter term before A Levels, I had either 'Rugger' practice or an inter-house game every day of the week except for Wednesday when we had compulsory Corps: even on Sundays we quite often had a team pep-talk.

My Housemaster was 'eccer' mad and my form master coached the House 'Rugger' team of which I was a member. I suppose it kept me from becoming too fixated on academic study, which was known as 'swotting' by the way.