bra

Maybe it's not the one-leg trouser that causes that but a triphthong.

I know what you mean, c_b. I always imagine someone trying to put on a pair of one-legged trousers and hopelessly hopping around a room.

I interpret it as panties go over both legs, where as the bra is worn over the chest.

Oh! So that's it! Thanks reesetee! ;)

Also, and perhaps paradoxically, I find stuff like the J. Crew catalog saying "The Pant" to be very pretentious.

Because English is weird, that's why.

I had an Indian friend who used pant and scissor in the singular. "I bought a new pant today." "Will you be passing me the scissor." Perhaps such usages are all the buzz in Bangalore. But he didn't wear a bra so I remain perplexed.

Pants: two legs, two cuffs, one pair, one garment.
Scissors: two blades, two points, two fingerholes, one pair, one tool.

By that argument you could say bra: two arm straps, two cups, one garment, which doesn't make sense at all. "I need to buy a pair of bra" is just dumb, and "...a pair of bras" means two of the garments, not two cups.

Which brings us back to: why not buy a pant, or use a scissor?

Politics, however, is just weird. I understand it makes strange bedfellows as well.

Pants: Two legs.
Scissors: Two blades.
Politics: One is quite enough, thankyouverymuch.

Bra makes sense, as it's short for brassiere. But why are pants and scissors plural?

And for that matter, why does politics SOUND plural, even though it isn't?

Women have a lot to answer for.

Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?