To me, a vest is a vest is a vest. I had never heard anyone use the word "gilet" until I joined YLF, and to this day cannot bring myself to use that word. Too weird.

Yep gilet is a bit posh isn’t it!
Laura1975-I m so glad some one else has heard of gutties,such a fab word!
Kkards-I d forgotten about the court shoe /pump thing but that did initially confuse me as pumps in this country are trainer type of shoes.
vildy -amazing how terms for things can change with in a relatively short time isn’t it?

How about 'smalls' for undies? I quite like this word - it is quite posh to me and I think that gilet is posh too

I love "smalls," Jane! Never use it, but will try to in future.

What a great conversation, Cardiff girl. Booby traps is hilarious! Thank you for that laugh.

LisaP got all the Canadianisms I can think of right now but I also remember pedal pushers (for capris). And we tend to say "purse" rather than "bag" or at least my family did.

Chris, Mr. Suz says still says poggabook and sometimes I have to scratch my head to figure out what he is talking about! And you should have heard his mother!

I've never heard any of the terms in the original post! LOL It's fun to read these, though.

My mom totally used the "poggabook" term and you still hear it around my area. Especially in Bawlmer, where we call the stuff in the ocean (oshun) "wooder." It sounds pretty old-fashioned to me, and even "purse" does too now, so I tend to use "handbag" more often.

I grew up referring to any athletic shoes as "tennis shoes" or "sneakers." My husband (grew up in TX) still calls knit caps "toboggans." But then he also pronounces "tarpaulin" as "tar-po-leon."

Lisa, I'm with you about "gilet" -- I just can't bring myself to say it because no one around here would know what I was talking about. I would feel pretentious calling a vest a gilet since it's not a term I grew up using or the norm for the area where I live.

In our house, we use the term 'smalls' for undwewear. Back packs are ruck sacks. Hoodies for sweatshirts or zippered bomber-type jackets made from soft cotton materials with a hood. Being a sporty family sports stuff is referred to as gear or kit. Gear is something you sweat into, and I have to think twice about it when Fabbers refer to casual clothes as gear.

Some of the sports clothes have funny names: one piece triathlon outfits are called 'onesies' and men's long length swim trunks are 'jammers'. Shorter swim trunks are called 'banana hammocks'. Cycling helmets are 'sieves.' Most Lycra bottoms are 'tights', and any fleece topper is just a 'fleece'. Sleeveless tops are 'singlets.

Oh gosh, Suzanimal, my mom says brassiere too because she thinks "bra" is vulgar. Too funny. My grandma carried a poggabook.
Cardiff girl, I've never heard them called cheese cutters, but it reminded me of the really rather vulgar "banana hammock" for the tiny Speedo swimsuits men wear.
My husband races bicycles and refers to his jersey/shorts/hat/socks/shoes as his kit. I think that might be a European term, but it's gaining momentum here in the States.

I think we were posting at the same time, Runcarla! Do your cycling friends ever call helmets "brain buckets" or "skid lids?" Very dark humor there.

Banana hammocks!!!I nearly choked on my tea then,never heard that term before.I suppose the nearest equivalent we have is budgie smugglers for men s small speedos.
kit for gym/exercise gear is used here ,did not realise it wasn’t in the states so much.

Some of these are just hilarious, especially booby traps & banana hammocks. I wish I had known brain bucket and skid lids when I was still practicing it would have been fun to ask the kids if they were wearing their brain buckets, that might have gotten their attention. I will pass that on to a couple of former colleagues

I have nothing to add but wanted to thank you for starting this thread, Cardiff girl.

I’m fascinated by the use of the word ‘toboggan’ for a hat ! To me , it’s a wooden sled for going down hills or pulling your kids on .

Ok, I wanna play. Back in the 60s at the South Jersey Shore, we had "clam diggers" for pedal pushers, Jamaica (intermediate length) shorts, "snarfs" for cotton bucket hats (usually cotton madras), "two-pieces" for bathing suits that were more modest than bikinis, "shells" for sleeveless knit tops, "windbreakers" for tightly-woven nylon jackets. And, of course, panty girdles and petti-pants. The former had garter inside the lengs to hold up your stockings.

Zibbets, DS#1 says cyclists are the fashionistas of the sporting world! Everything co-ordinated right down to the socks! Yes, brain buckets! First heard that amongst snowboarders.. On the slopes they called folks like me 'grays-on-trays'! LOL!

Love this thread, Cardiff Girl - and I'm still chuckling at "Booby Traps"!
I'm familiar with pinnies and keks, but have never heard of gutties.
In our family,anything that looks rather old-fashioned is deemed to be "a bit Aunt Min" . Goodness knows where that one came from!.

Lynn-thank you for commenting,I m enjoying it very much myself.
Old chic-petti pants,never knew about these before.I m glad that you explained what they were.
Runcarla-grays on trays!That made me laugh!
Summer-I wonder who the mysterious Aunt Min was?Glad to know someone else who has heard of keks.

Lisa p-yes toboggan for a hat does seem a bit random doesn’t it?

I just remembered some more. My grandfather called overshoes rubbers. Obviously that fell out of favor as condoms used to be called that. I actually once owned and occasionally wore a pair of overshoes. Black rubber with a depression where you could fit a cuban heeled shoe.

Also, I remember a time when rather worldly teen boys couldn't bring themselves to refer to maternity clothes, that they called "smocks" or "frocks."

There was a big surfer culture when I was growing up, even though we lived inland. Kids used to set up their schedules at the junior college so that they had all early morning classes and then off to the beach. I wonder if typical surfer clothes had special names because I can't recall any.

What about the term "Daisy Dukes" or as we called them growing up "c**chie cutters"?

And Cosby sweaters. Both pop culture references.

Vildy -It s really interesting how the meaning of words can change over time isn’t
Liz A.-that takes me backI remember watching the dukes of Hazard when I was little and the fuss the British press made over those shorts!Wasn t aware of Cosby sweaters though although the Cosby show was shown on t.v.

Like Old Chic, shorter pants were called clam diggers. My mom called bras “over the shoulder boulder holders”. That used to crack me up because dear mama barely had pebbles.

Love this thread! My husband and other old-school Chicagoans call sneakers "gym shoes." I think we used that term in Minnesota, too.

Vildy: I know the term Bobos! We had a little song in about fourth grade: "Bobos, make your feet feel fine; Bobos, cost a dollar ninety-nine." I thought they might be an actual brand of shoes. I heard the term in the early 90s on an army base, so who knows where we army brats picked it up from?

Liz A.: We used those terms for short shorts a lot when I was in high school in Texas.

Maine lady -the term boulders does rather
imply a certain size doesn’t it!
Rachel thrives-if you travel you pick up sayings from all over don’t you.

Vildy, I'm sure the cool kids have all new names but this is what I remember of Southern California beachwear: Baja shirt (aka a Mexican blanket shirt, or "drug rug"); boardshorts or boardies; wetsuits, full or shorties; and sunglasses were shades. You could take surfing for PE at my high school.

Vildy -- yes, rubbers! They were shoe-shaped, black rubber boots that stretched to fit over men's dress shoes. Do they sell those anymore? Also, there were equivalent women's rain boots, clear plastic, accommodating high heels. They folded over at the ankle, with an elastic loop that hooked over a button.

And don't forget "dickies" -- which in America were inserts, usually turtlenecked, that you put under your shirt. We had an even older Irish friend who used to wear a "dickie-bow" to go to formal dances in Dublin.