Panties and knickers, do they give you the 'ick'?

[MelissaBaby]

Knickers in BrE are big pant(ie)s, nowadays associated with grannies, and fantasy 18-year-old schoolgirls from the days when corporal punishment was a regular occurrence in schools. They go up to near your waist and hide every trace of buttock, and generally aren't intended to be sexy unless made out of black satin or something.

Referring to downstairs underwear in general as knickers is kinda crude and a bit feminising if said to a man. Kids may use the word (especially girls) but it's not got associations with infants here.

Thanks for the explanation. I had thought it was a more generic term than that.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I don't see how "knickers" is any less infantilizing than "panties."

Devoid of any context, I just think it’s a cute word.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

All my characters go "commando".

Problem solved.

 

[TheLobster]

Panties is pretty much never used in British English, and when it is, it usually means the frilly things under a toddler girl's dress that go over a nappy (diaper). So yeah, it gives the ick.

You Brits have the weirdest verbiage. Next thing you'll tell us that 'fanny' is a pussy or something.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

You only invented dogging because your houses are too tiny to host proper orgies.

Good for Glory Holes though.

Especially when the neighbors keep changing.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

All my characters go "commando".

Problem solved.

This is why I refer to them as decoration.

I've made reference in stories to a partner wanting the character to wear them if only to be able to watch somebody else take them off.

 

[BlazonG]

I get around this by writing things like “he/she yanked down her bottoms” instead of panties. I don’t have a big problem with panties, but it’s a little out of place sometimes. Especially if the woman is on the dominant side of the story.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Panties (sometimes) cover the bottom.

 

[ronde]

For my stories set in relatively modern times, it's panties unless my characters are in England. Then it's knickers. If I want to paint a better picture for the readers, I'll use thong, boyshorts, bikini panties, or once in a while, granny panties. Real men wear jockey shorts or tidy whiteys. I have a few characters who favor boxers, but not many.

It my story is set in a much older time period, I'll use the description of that time period like pantaloons or bloomers. Native Americans and poor people go bare, because they did.

 

[Erozetta]

No ick from panties here. My ick comes from "bloomers" outside of historical references, as that's what my family always called those little frilly shorts that go over a diaper.

But, also, my personal preference in reading is to have the actual style listed. I'm particularly fond of hipsters and boy shorts.

I tend to avoid the issue in real life by loathing having to fold and put away panties. Therefore , I don't wear them or clothes in general unless I have to leave my apartment and do something that requires the uptight feeling they cause.

My characters will sometimes take on my stance and bitch about feeling obligated to wear them because of work or social expectations. Then they spend a good part of the story constantly adjusting them because they are so uncomfortable and foreign feeling, only to eventually toss them in the trash to be more comfy.

Best use of panties in any story is getting to toss them in the trash, in my humble opinion.

 

[onehitwanda]

My personal favourite is one a friend used at Uni - "scandal pants: so thin you can see the lips moving"

 

[ADirtyPerv]

My personal favourite is one a friend used at Uni - "scandal pants: so thin you can see the lips moving"

Like this?

 

[onehitwanda]

 

[Bazzle]

In my stories, they just tend to be soaking wet, whatever you call them.

 

[crookedletter]

These are interesting questions, and I think it comes down to trusting readers to contextualize. Similar to the word "cunt": if it's an American context, it's an intensely polarizing word, likely to be intended to elicit an intense response. If it's a British context, it seems to be fairly vanilla, as far as I've seen.

I'm American and I routinely use panties. Knickers doesn't give me an ick, but if I saw it in an American context it would trip me up, strike me as an odd word choice. Because it's just not a common usage for Americans. I would imagine British readers and writers would bring a similar context, using knickers -- or whatever -- and understanding its American counterpart when they come across panties.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Real men wear jockey shorts or tidy whiteys. I have a few characters who favor boxers, but not many.

Jockey shorts look juvenile to me. I much prefer men to wear boxers.

 

[yowser]

Universally, there's always been a 'panter' and a 'pantee.'

 

[AG31]

As a lowly American, 'pants' just sounds like I have another layer to get through, because the panties are underneath. The word 'panties' is so firmly ubiquitous to me that I didn't know people COULD get the ick from it.

I'll muse on how to describe how it's possible. Definitely possible.

 

[redgarters]

Oh, Hell. Must Learn All The Words! The meanings! I just recently learned the difference between ass and arse, this job's too hard! I thought English was supposed to be simple since it doesn't have case inflections.

Underpants, to me, sounds too functional to be a particularly good word for erotica.

Unless the POV character has a particularly functional mindset. Ah dammit, the Plot Bunny is after me again!

Damn the Plot Bunny, the insistent, never sleeping bastard!

We sent all our repressed types to Maryland, and then we invented dogging. That says all that needs to be said on the matter.

I learned this at the movies in 2004:

 

[AG31]

Panties, definite ick. One of the ickiest terms I can think of.

I wanted to use squick, a term I've recently learned here on Lit, but I can't figure out how to put it in a sentence.

 

[onehitwanda]

Panties, definite ick. One of the ickiest terms I can think of.

I wanted to use squick, a term I've recently learned here on Lit, but I can't figure out how to put it in a sentence.

squick is to ick as anus is to bum.

 

[ADirtyPerv]

I learned this at the movies in 2004:

View attachment 2588629

Founded by prudes, run by prudes, proliferated by prudes. Makes it hard to breathe sometimes.

 

[NaughteeDragon]

I usually use panties unless I am going for a specific description or reminding the reader of a prior description.
I use knickers of the character is British. It kind of drove my beta a little crazy when he started working on my current story. He gets it now, and only one character uses the term.

The ick factor has got to be a recent development, right?

 

[pink_silk_glove]

American. I definitely use "panties." I don't get the ick from "knickers," but it's not a sexy term, to me. It seems faintly comical to me.

Knickers sounds more naughty to me for some reason.

 

[MrPixel]

I wanted to use squick, a term I've recently learned here on Lit, but I can't figure out how to put it in a sentence.

"Squick" is a portmanteau of "squeamish" and "ick". Mostly used as a noun, "His fixation on sucking her toes is such a squick." Sometimes a verb, "Her anal fetish squicks me."

LitE is full of squicks. Choose wisely.