Sunday, January 18, 2009

Finding the Right Word: Clothes To Be Re-Worn

cat on clothes on flor

Remember those semi-dirty clothes that too often tend to wind up on the floor, or tossed over a treadmill? Imagine my surprise in finding this query in the latest edition of The Atlantic:
Carolyn Haggis, of Oxford, England, writes, "I'm looking for a word for the items of clothing which sit perched on a chair in my bedroom, waiting to be reworn. They are not yet ready for the laundry bin (since I plan to rewear them), but they are no longer suitable for the wardrobe (which I reserve for clean clothes). I assume others keep their lightly worn clothes in a similar purgatory?"
Some of the many answers include
- Foreworns.
- Limbotogs.
- Purgattire.
- Worndrobe.

If word play interests you, I'd recommend reading the whole set of comments.

[photo by maury.mccown]

3 comments:

SueBK said...

In our family they've always been referred to as "Clirty clothes" (clean/dirty). I don't know how widespread the term is. It could be an Australian term. Only 578 hits in Google, so obviously not too common.

Jeri Dansky said...

Sue, I've never heard "clirty clothes" before, but I like it; it has a nice sound to it.

Allison Spitzer Carter said...

Thanks for this post! I have been creating "wear it again" piles and hooks with clients, but never thought up a great name for the clothes. Clirty is easy and memorable. Love the rest too!