"Trunk."

The word "trunk" has come up — by chance — in 2 posts today.

1. "The plus-size 'bikini'": "Note that the caption refers to the bottoms as 'trunks,' a word that strikes me as way too masculine (perhaps because I associate it with elephant appendages)."

2. "'The Giving Tree' — 'Remember that book...": "In his childhood, the boy enjoys playing with the tree, climbing her trunk, swinging from her branches, and eating her apples. However, as time passes the tree becomes mean, jealous, and stingy...."

When things like that happen around here, it's de rigueur to consult the (unlinkable) Oxford English Dictionary. The first meaning, going back to 1490, is "The main part of something as distinguished from its appendages," which explains how we talk about trees.

1490   Caxton tr. Eneydos iv. 17   Eneas..hewe the troncke of a tree oute of the whiche yssued bloode.

That leads to a figurative use, for example:

a1616   Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 70   You consenting too't, Would barke your honor from that trunke you beare, And leaue you naked.

The second meaning is: "The human body, or that of an animal, without the head, or esp. without the head and limbs, or considered apart from these..."

a1616   Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) iv. ix. 84   There [will I] cut off thy most vngracious head;..Leauing thy trunke for Crowes to feed vpon.

So how do we get to the elephant's trunk, which seems to have it backwards, with the word referring to the appendage and not the main part? And what about those swimming trunks? There's the "trunk" that is a large piece of luggage, and I see that usage seems to have come from the fact that trunks were once made out of tree trunks. Another word for that sort of trunk is "chest," which seems to take us back to the human torso sort of trunk. A puzzle!

Anyway, the elephant's trunk is the 15th meaning for "trunk," and there's no explanation for why the appendage gets the word that originally meant the main part.

1589   R. Baker in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations i. 138   The Elephant..With water fils his troonke right hie and blowes it on the rest.
1613   S. Purchas Pilgrimage 816   There was another strange creature in Nicaragua..like a blacke Hogge, with..a short truncke or snowt like an Elephant....

And we need to scroll down to meaning #17 to get to the pants category, first with "trunk-hose," and then "trunks" to mean "Short breeches of silk or other thin material; in theatrical use, often worn over tights...."

1836   Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) xv. 152   The appearance of Mr. Snodgrass in blue satin trunks and cloak, white silk tights and shoes, and Grecian helmet.

And finally, "orig. U.S. Short tight-fitting drawers worn by swimmers and athletes."

1883   Pall Mall Gaz. 26 July 7/1   Captain Webb attempted his perilous feat of swimming the Niagara Rapids... He wore a pair of silk trunks....
1894   Ralph in Harper's Mag. Aug. 341   Nude bathing will not be permitted... The use of tights or ‘trunks’ will not be allowed.

With little help from the OED, I'm going to leap to the supposition that meaning #17 is an example of metonymy — where a word referring to one thing is used to refer to a related thing, like "dish" for the food on the dish. The trunk is in the garment and the garment gets called by the thing it contains. That wouldn't explain why we say "trunks" in the plural, which is like "pants," which we can easily tell is plural because pants have 2 legs. (Calling pant legs "legs" is clearly metonymy.) Oddly, trunks, unlike pants, lack legs, but I think if we go back to the first #17 usage and see "trunk-hose," we get a clue for where "trunks," plural, came from. It was a one-piece garment, the tights, and the term got transferred to those puffy panties that covered up the dancer's bulges...



... until they didn't....



As for the elephant's trunk, the 15th meaning of "trunk," I'm thinking the word for the main part became the word for the appendage as way to express the awesome size of the appendage. It might have been a comical figure of speech at one time, the way a man's very large phallus might be called his "third leg."

The plus-size "bikini."

The "fatkini."

You can wear whatever you want, but what's being sold is not a bikini. I remember bathing suits like that from the days — 1950s and 60s — when few women wore bikinis. What I'm seeing at the link are what were traditionally called "2-piece bathing suits." The bottoms come up to the waist. It's hard to see why that looks prettier than a 1-piece. Is there something special about the section of skin between the bottom of one's bra and the waist? Is isolating the bra from the bottoms a good idea when the shape of the bottoms ends up being granny-panties?


Here's a NYT article from May 24, 1961: "The Novelty Has Worn Off, But Bikini Remains Popular."

Several years ago, the Bikini was de rigueur on some parts of Fire Island and for theatrical people and models... And each year, there is slightly more acceptance, although the novelty has definitely worn off.

"On the other hand," [said Jack Vane, Lord & Taylor's sportswear buyer,] "I can't give a conventional two-piece suit away. The customers won't have it, but they'll buy a modified Bikini."

Note the capitalization of the word, which was a place name (associated with atomic bomb tests).

Although he would never say who should and who should not wear a Bikini, Mr. Vane did say a woman should look before she leaps into on.

"We have them in sizes 8 to 16," he said. "I won't stock them in larger sizes."

That's obviously not 8 to 16 in the sizes we see in shops today. The article goes on to note the various fabric patterns: "and yes — even polka dots." That was — speaking of de rigueur — the necessary reference to the 1960 pop song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini."

And here's a NYT article from 1960 displaying the "more modest two-piece suit" that American women wore in response to the "arrival of the Bikini" (and that one year later Jack Vane, above, said he couldn't give away). You can see from the photos that the "more modest two-piece" is the configuration seen in today's so-called "fatkini." Note that the caption refers to the bottoms as "trunks," a word that strikes me as way too masculine (perhaps because I associate it with elephant appendages).

Scroll down for an article titled "Fate of Daring Bikini May Be Decided Today."

The Bikini, the little suit that got the big promotion from the sportswear industry this year, has not lived up to expectations. Is it the weather or our Puritan heritage?...

Bendel's and Bergdorf's say that some of their customers buy Bikinis, but only for wear on penthouse terraces, patios and backyards....

"Women who have lived abroad buy them without a quiver. Now they're catching on among the young theatrical and artistic kids too."...

"Two years ago, people looked down their noses at you if you showed up in a Bikini. You were asked to leave or take cover. This season no one even looks at you."

Bikinis have been spotted at the Hamptons but mostly on "artistic" types, models and Europeans. Those who will not wear them are talking about them.

"There's no advantage in a Bikini," asserted on young matron. "If your figure is that good, it's smarter to be mysterious."

That was the oft-repeated commentary: preserve the "mystery" of the female body by keeping it covered. Nowadays, we Americans — despite "our Puritan heritage" — like to think the notion of covering up the female body belongs to other cultures that have yet to advance to our stage of freedom. But in 1958, if you showed up in a Bikini, you were asked to leave or take cover.

I love the references to "artistic" and "theatrical" people, especially as contrasted to the "young matron." These days, no one — young or old — gets called a "matron." And everyone's so artistic and theatrical that it's not worth saying.

"This photo cements stereotypes, perpetuates an imbalance in the power dynamic, is reminiscent of centuries of colonialism (and indentured servitude)..."

"... and serves as a good example of both creating a centrality of whiteness and using 'exotic' people as fashion props."

The SI swimsuit issue is troubling people again.