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posted by darraghdaly
Oct 17, 2008 4:52PM
As I heard it:
Denim cloth came from a town in France called Nîmes, and was originally called Serge. Everyone referred to it as "Serge de Nîmes," which was shortened to "de Nîmes,' eventually becoming our modern word "denim."
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posted by guest
Oct 18, 2008 7:34PM
OED takes my prize:
A name originally given to a kind of serge; now (orig. U.S.) to a coloured twilled cotton material used largely for overalls, hangings, etc. In pl. = overalls, trousers made of denim.
1695 E. HATTON Merchant's Mag. 159, 18 Serge Denims that cost 6l. each. 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3885/4 A pair of Flower'd Serge de Nim Breeches. 1864 WEBSTER, Denim, a coarse cotton drilling used for overalls, etc. 1868 Mobile Daily Tribune 4 Nov. 4/6 Dry Goods..Blue Denims..Brown Denims. 1875 I. L. BIRD Sandwich Isl. (1880) 79 She wears..a scanty, loose frock of blue denim down to her knees. 1932 J. DOS PASSOS 1919 3 He was a smiling ruddy man in blue denims. 1958 J. LODWICK Bid the Soldiers Shoot III. vii. 222 In the map pocket of my denims. 1959 Manchester Guardian 24 June 7/1 Figures in Bermuda shorts or rolled-up denims.
Nothin' like Dos Passos for classy couture etymology!
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posted by guest
Oct 19, 2008 2:31PM
she is ridiculously hot -- my lord -- I'm going to squeeze into my skintight vintage Calvins, get behind the wheel of my shiny new VW, and drive headlong into a formidable brick wall -- and as I'm lying there, with blood pouring out my broken hart, and waiting for the EMTs to arrive, I'm going to read some "Crash" by J.G. Ballard -- love, GH
posted by LeMagnifique
Oct 17, 2008 4:41PM
In the beginning jeans were manufactured with fabric coming from Nimes ( South of France) hence the name toile de Nimes which became 'denim' later on lol...