Where did the word'Togs' come from?
Ngaire Henry
suit and what was it derived from?
Hugh Rodwell
Henry) wrote:
> Is 'Togs' NZ slang for dressing up in one's best clothes or bathing
> suit and what was it derived from?
It came from the newspaper jingle:
Show me the way to go home,
Said the girl on the Eastbourne beach.
I lost my TOGS about an hour ago
And they've gawn right outa reach!
All that I'm wearing now
Is some seaweed and some foam,
So lend me a pige of the Evening Post
And show me the way to go home!
Cheers,
Hugh
--
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Don't let them talk you into anything - See for yourself!
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Chad
(Long, Sharon Louise) wrote:
> In article <4d1i9v$h...@newsource.ihug.co.nz> ny...@ihug.co.nz (Ngaire
Henry) writes:
> >Is 'Togs' NZ slang for dressing up in one's best clothes or bathing
> >suit and what was it derived from?
>
> The concise Oxford lists 2 meanings:
>
> 1. An item of clothing
>
> 2. A unit of thermal resistance used to express the insulating properties of
> clothes and quilts.
Collins' dictionary flicks you right back to the Latin 'toga' (!!) via an
obscure term, 'togemans' (sic) coat.
The collective noun 'toggery', referring to many garments, goes back to
around Dickens' time (I think).
Renata Joyner
» Is 'Togs' NZ slang for dressing up in one's best clothes or bathing
» suit and what was it derived from?
I always understood it to mean swimming apparel but my dictionary gives an
insight as to where it came from (even tho it's American):
togs = clothes
togged, togging, togs = to dress or clothe
[Obs. "togeman" < Fr. "toge," cloak < Lat. "toga," garment]
The Latin derivative of "toga" is "tegere," to cover (altho I don't think
today's Kiwi togs do much of that anymore!!)
Renata Joyner . joy...@actrix.gen.nz . Paremata, New Zealand
Long, Sharon Louise
>suit and what was it derived from?
The concise Oxford lists 2 meanings:
1. An item of clothing
2. A unit of thermal resistance used to express the insulating properties of
clothes and quilts.
You asked...!
Mark Ogilvie
> Is 'Togs' NZ slang for dressing up in one's best clothes or bathing
> suit and what was it derived from?
It's NZ slang for bathing suit.
I don't know where it came from, I'm only a geologist. I know that in Dikens' "Oliver
Twist", when Oliver gets back to Fagin's den wearing a good suit the other kids taunt
him saying "Oooh, look at his togs, Fagin!". My guess is that the use of the word has
changed from referring to clothes in general or maybe a good suit of clothes, to bathing
costume. Strange.
--
cheers | "It is a bad thing not to be able
Mark O. | to take a joke. Worse, not to take
| a divine joke;"
Resource Information Unit | - C.S. Lewis
Ministry of Commerce |
Wellington, New Zealand | I do not speak for the Ministry of Commerce
kae...@rossintermediate.school.nz
> Is 'Togs' NZ slang for dressing up in one's best clothes or bathing
> suit and what was it derived from?
Rich80105
togs is first recorded 1779. Toggery "clothes collectively" is
recorded from 1812. In the Uk we used to say "get your togs on", but
it meant clothing, not swimwear. "
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/togs
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/togs
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/tog
https://theconversation.com/togs-or-swimmers-why-australians-use-different-words-to-describe-the-same-things-52007
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/togs
Of course whether the original poster sees this depends on whether it
was posted to nz.general . . .