MovieChat Forums > Anatomy of a Murder (1959) Discussion > 'Underwear'. Just call them 'underwear'.

'Underwear'. Just call them 'underwear'.

posted 13 years ago by nu_riot
7 replies | jump to latest

Three people gathered together couldn't think of an alternative word for "panties"? Come on.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] novastar_6 13 years ago

Somehow I think underwear at the time largely referred to like long underwear and wouldn't gel with the jury's mental image of a woman's underthings. I think at the time women's underwear was called lingerie, and that would be the French 'provocative' word.

[–] sanjay_kn 12 years ago

you can call a knicker( british). french is lingerie I think, but I am not sure!
will do more research!!!

[–] HeywoodJablomy 13 years ago

I think "underwear" would be too vague a description, especially in court. That term technically refers to anything worn next to the skin, under the outer garments, including bra, panties, girdle, undershirt, boxers, briefs, etc. There's nothing wrong with the word "panties", and those giggles in the courtroom were immature and ridiculous, IMO.

[–] fnj2002 12 years ago

The giggles were more embarrassment than anything else. No one used the word in public or polite company in those days. You have to make allowance for a very different time.

[–] fanaticita 9 years ago

Ha! I thought the same thing -just say underwear!

[–] JohnnyJohnson (282) 7 months ago

Right? Couldn't they just say UNDERPANTS???? It was so annoying. Panties sounds so stupid in court. And creepy. It reminded me of that Seinfeld episode where he was trying to talk dirty to his girlfriend and said something weird like "Are those the panties your mother laid out for you?" or such. Gross.