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The earliest known use of the word pantywaist is in the 1910s. OED's earliest evidence for pantywaist is from 1910, in the Lima News (Lima, Ohio). pantywaist is formed within English, by compounding.
Jan 3, 2020 · "the black liquor with which men write" [Johnson], mid-13c., inke, from Old French enche, encre "dark writing fluid" (12c.), earlier enque (11c.), originally enca, from a shortening of Late Latin encaustum, from Late Greek enkauston.
A pantywaist was formerly a child's undergarment in which a shirt and pants were buttoned together at the waist. Earliest documented use: 1910.
Sep 27, 2024 · (informal, dated) An undergarment composed, in part, of panties attached to a waistband. Lace trimmed panty waists —50 cents. (informal, derogatory) An ineffectual, weak, or timid person, especially a boy or young man; a sissy. Don't be misled by the British tendency to be soft-spoken and polite.
That insulting definition of “pantywaist” (sometimes hyphenated as “panty-waist,” sometimes rendered as “panty waist”) first appeared in the 1930s, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, about twenty years after the first mention of the garment itself.
The usual meaning of the word pantywaist is 'an effeminate or weak man or boy; sissy'. Example: "I think my career has shown I'm not exactly a pantywaist" (John Wayne, in a 1971 Playboy interview). The original sense, though, referred to an article of clothing for children.
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Which expression parallels Pantywaist in using a woman's garment to refer to weak men?
What does panty mean?
The noun pantywaist has proven to be more enduring in its figurative meaning — an ineffectual or childish man — than in its original meaning, which was a garment of early 20th century vintage: short pants fastened to a waist band, worn by children.
