Meaning, why do we tell someone that their 'fly' is open if they forget to zip up their pants? Would like to have the origins of where it started to be called a fly and why.
I already know the answer...just wanted to see if anyone else is smart enough to know this.
Anonymous
Favorite Answer
Why is the opening of men's pants called a "fly"?
One root of the word "fly" (meaning "to soar through the air") also implies "flapping." Several sites revealed that tent flaps, which cover the tent's fasteners, much like on your 501s, lent their name to fly-front pants. The first documented use of "fly" meaning "tent flap" was in 1810.
Europeans started getting into pants, as we know them, in the 16th century. Fly-front trousers were invented around 1650, although the flap didn't gain its flighty name till later. This center-front opening was considered a little risqu�, and pants closures changed between a fly and a fall-front style for the next century or two.
In 1844, a book about military clothing made the first recorded use of "fly" to mean "pants opening." Thus trouser-wearers have been pretty fly ever since.
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Pants Fly
Anonymous
"I already know the answer...just wanted to see if anyone else is smart enough to know this."
Wow, you know this? Gee, you're REALLY smart. Congratulations!
lipvixen
Maybe because they call his penis a 'bird'? And it might fly away? But then they should call the zipper a cage if that's the case...
vintageR
When the zip is undone, it looks like a pair of wings?