No Pants!

Today of course is the annual "No Pants Subway" ride. No, I did not participate...although I wouldn't rule out ever doing so if I caught myself on a subway or train when it was happening! I would choose to remain standing though, the thought of bare buttocks on icky train seats is very disturbing.

The name however undergoes a slight tweak when it comes to the UK to "No Trousers on the Tube" and it's not just because of the Underground reference. Nope, when you say pants here, people think you are referring to underwear.  This has been the single hardest word for me to transition over to saying!!!!  Actually I still haven't gotten to where trousers comes out of my mouth first instead of pants which leads to some moments of blushing both on my part and the occasional man when it happens in mixed company especially if it's something like "I forgot my pants to change into" or "I am not wearing pants."

Yep, you would think after the first few times of confused looks or coughs to cover up chuckles and the myriad of times I've been pulled aside to be told "You do know pants doesn't mean the same thing here, right?" that I would remember it, but no as of yet I haven't.  The last time just after Christmas I even went through 3 different variations of what I wanted to say before I finally got out the proper word for the context--very reminiscent of an angry parent yelling out different kids' names before getting to the correct one.

To make things even more interesting, pants is also British slang for something that is inferior quality, rubbish, horrible, etc.  The funny thing is that I do know (and knew years before moving here thanks to my habit of reading everything I can get my hands on) the differences...it's just the actual speaking part that gets me in trouble!