I recently saw a commercial in which a bad mind-reader was trying to guess things about a pizza delivery guy. A one point he asks "Boxers, right? No? Briefs? Thong? Commando?" I had heard the phrase "going commando" meaning "not wearing underwear" at least 20 years ago, from friend who I thought had come up with this description himself. Since it is clearly a commonly-understood phrase, at least among American youth, I suspect that it wasn't his original coinage after all. My current hypothesis is that it was popularized by a book or movie. Anyone know?
I know the term. Wordspy says it might be from the British Royal Marine Commandos . . .
I always assumed it was related to "going Regimental", a term we use in reenacting to mean when a guy wears a kilt correctly, w/o underwear. Real Men go regimental (just so's you know).
******* "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. ~Dalai Lama
I confess I don't know the origin of this expression but the idea of linking it to soldiers in kilts seems a very logical one. It immediately reminded me of the old British comedy film 'Carry on up the Khyber' where the regiment (The Third Foot and Mouth) managed to control the natives in India due to their reputaion for wearing nothing under the kilt. In the film they were known as 'the dreaded devils in skirts'. I always liked the company motto that went with this tradition, 'Always Ready For Action'. The humour was obviously very saucy (to relate it to one of CW's other threads).
There was a programme on BBC Scotland tonight about the Commando training that took place at Achnacarry House in Scotland during WWII. This was British Army Commando, before they became part of the Royal Marines. One of the old guys said that when they went on a mission they were given clean underwear, which was meant to reduce the danger of infection if they were injured. He said this idea was copied from the Navy. It sounds like a sensible idea. Maybe 'going commando' happened later, when clean underwear was less of a novelty?
Right. Although some Scots might dispute that point!
It takes up almost a third of the UK's land area (about 30,000 square miles out of a total of 94,525 square miles) so covers a relatively large area. Not that the UK's size is much compared to the size of the states in the US, though.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
[QUOTE]Right. Although some Scots might dispute that point!
I lived in Scotland for 14 years and my experience was that an awful lot of Scots would dispute that. The English are often seen as arrogant and big headed.
This posting requires no smart-alec answers from our American colleagues either!
This posting requires no smart-alec answers from our American colleagues either!
Balderdash! We Americans get involved in everything...you know that! Anyway, I was planning to defend the dear Brits. Before I posted here, I, too, thought of Brits as standoffish, haughty, and aloof. Yet, I have found quite the opposite to be true! I was so amazed when I was in England to see the Brits as warm, chatty and quite willing to help out a stranger who can't find the "tube." Of course, the minute I would say the first word, they'd say, "Oh, you're American!"...as if to say, "That's why you don't get it!"
Of course, the minute I would say the first word, they'd say, "Oh, you're American!"...as if to say, "That's why you don't get it!"
LOL, That really made me laugh, thank you Kalleh. You certainly seem to have nailed how Americans are sometimes viewed here. In fairness, I confess that most Americans I've either met or talked to over the years have pleasantly surprised me because they usually differ from their stereotypical image (at least in most respects ).
I found a long but very interesting note describing the authoress's personal research into the origin of the phrase "going commando". See Cynthia's post, the second in the thread, in Tilted Forum Project. Her connclusion is, "Long story short, commandos go commando. That's apparently how the term came about."
Originally posted by neveu: My current hypothesis is that it was popularized by a book or movie. Anyone know?
Got it, neveu.
Warren Hoge interviewed Angus Stevenson, one of the co-editors the 2002 edition of Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Hoge reports,
Asked for a personal favourite from the new phrases, Stevenson cited "go commando," which the dictionary says means to go out wearing no underwear. "We got it from the TV series Friends," he said, "and then we tracked it back to American college slang in the mid-'80s, and we reasoned that that's when the writers of Friends were probably at college. It could have been a private joke in a small group about commandos being too rough and ready to wear underpants ... it's turned into a phrase that is recognised by a global audience."
I gather that Hoge's article first appeared in The New York Times of Nov. 12, 2002, titled "Latest Word". But here is a copy that can be accessed without charge.
I just started a thread in Community, hoping that you'd post.
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