Brainiac: Science Abuse

Just watched the episide where john tickle asks why we call a pair of pants a pair well, It was due to the evolution of hosen. In medieval times nobody wore pants, as robes and tunics were all the rage. Enter hosen, the knee length sock.

Over a few hundred years, the hosen gradually crept up the leg, getting higher and higher, until they eventually joined at the crotch and became a single piece. However, the language didn't evolve, and the plural hosen remained, despite it's singular subject. Thus pants, trousers, and even the more illogical "pair of underwear" (since it doesn't even have two legs to worry about).

Now the real question is why do we call a pair of scissors a pair?