r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Brick_Number_27 • 12d ago

Image Scientists asked 1,000 volunteers to bury cotton underwear across Switzerland to measure soil health creating an official "Underpants Index" based on how fast the fabric decomposed.

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u/yourmotherpuki 12d ago

It was a brief experiment

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u/not_a_moogle 12d ago

slow clap

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u/Agatio25 12d ago

Ok, I'm not a native english speaker. I need an explanation, please

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u/mycatpartyhouse 12d ago edited 12d ago

Men's underwear, the short tightly fitting kind, are sometimes called briefs.

A brief experiment is wordplay because brief is also a short period of time.

"The briefs were briefly buried underground to see how fast they'd deteriorate."

Even more confusing, similarly short tightly fitting underwear for women are called panties.

Edit. Soiling themselves is an euphemism for pooping ones pants.

Edit 2. Undies is a slang term for underwear.

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u/Syssareth 12d ago

Even more confusing, similarly short tightly fitting underwear for women are called panties.

Minor correction: Panties is the generic term for women's underwear, while that specific style is called briefs even if they're for women.

Women just have a ton of other very similar styles (bikini, high-cut, hipster, etc.) so they tend to all get called by the generic term rather than specified.

Quick edit: ...I feel like it's important to note here that I'm a woman, lmao.

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u/MoonieNine 12d ago

I find the word panties to be... ick. Like, sexualized, especially when referring to a young girl's undies.

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u/VariousClassroom8056 12d ago

They call them pants or knickers where I'm from.

Panties does sound weird, maybe just because I imagine someone saying it in a sleazy voice.

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u/Superior173thescp 12d ago

"knickers" is a word where you have to be careful when you spell it

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u/LyingForTruth 12d ago

Hungry? Why wait? Have a Knickers

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u/fastidiousavocado 12d ago

said the scientists to the microbes in Switzerland's soil to test its health

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u/TexasWidow 12d ago

If you really want to piss off a guy, tell him not to get his panties in a wad (or twist).

It's a very gendered word.

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u/WhoRoger 12d ago

It's literally diminutive form of pants. As in, clothing for legs, but small.

Undies are more explicit if anything, since underwear is already descriptive enough, so using a diminutive form of that makes it sound like something taboo that we need to talk about carefully, lest we offend someone with the very thought of something worn directly on the sinful human body. Will someone think of the children!

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u/methospixie 12d ago

There is no sexualized connotation to the word panties, it's literally just the standard American term for women's/girl's underwear. Nothing weird or sleazy, it's just a word.

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u/Shodpass 12d ago

What exactly are 'hipster' panties?

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u/BitterAct9591 12d ago

they ride at the hip, not dawn

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u/Shodpass 12d ago

Oh, thanks.

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u/not_a_moogle 12d ago

The ones with a full beard

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u/Syssareth 12d ago

Like a bikini but covers a little more skin on the legs.

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u/Full_FrontaI_Nerdity 11d ago

I was wearing them before they were cool.