Quote Originally Posted by jkdesq
My dictionary -- Oxford English Dictionary (the only English dictionary that really matters--well with the exception of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary) -- defines a "kilt" as a "skirtlike garment". There is a difference between being a "skirt" and being "skirtlike".
That's odd. The OED found here: http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/kilt?view=uk clearly defines a kilt as a SKIRT. Not skirtlike.


Perhaps I didn't make my point very well. I was trying to suggest that there are alot of things that are more or less the same, but are known by different names depending on cultural context. Lines are blurry.
Sure, no problem there.

Where is the line that separates a boat from a ship?
The difference is that (with a couple notable exceptions) 'boats' are carried on 'ships'.

If you scratch to deeply at the nomenclature of things, the exercise becomes meaningless.
English has a vocabulary that arises from convention. We don't have a prescribed language like French and Italian speakers. It is the meaning understood by the typical English speaker that is most important.
I respectfully disagree. While it is quite true that cultural cannotations are often what matters most to people, the fact remains that words mean things. That's why we have them.


If someone says "skirt" to me, I think of a garment intended for women.
Sure. Who wouldn't? But that does not change the fact that a kilt is, by definition, a skirt. Here in America we suffer from constant misuse, abuse and outright obtuse usages of the language. Ignorance is curable. I see it as my job to educate strangers who refer to my kilt by its other name: a skirt.

There is no situation where I would hear the word "skirt" and think of a garment intended for a man.
I understand that. But again I point out that that reaction is due to culture, not to proper English usage.

I think you should be more willing to call your briefs "panties" (when you wear them) than call your kilt a "skirt".
I think you may have misunderstood me. I never refer to my kilts as skirts, even though they are. And the reasons I don't are exactly the same as yours. But knowing the proper definitions allows me to point out to the wise guy that what he may intend as a snide comment can not possibly be offensive because it is factual. It is as water off a duck's back to me as it should be to all kilt wearers.

My vote is that we should discourage any use of the word "skirt" to describe a kilt.
Well, you can lobby to change the language if you like. But even if the official definition is altered common usage will not be.