Does anybody know what “stiff in the britches” means? All I’m finding are pornographic references but the context I need the expression for is not explicit in the least. It’s a reference to a computer game character.
8 responses to “Linguistic Help Needed”
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Perhaps…pompous? Kind of a stickler?
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I think, but I’m not sure, that it refers to someone being stuffy in a stereotypically British way, unyielding, traditional, and not prone to fits of laughter or moments of tenderness.
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OK, that totally works. THANK YOU!!!!!!
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Unrelated link for you above. I know from experience what stiff in one’s breeches is, because when I was a kid, I went to a riding school called Ascot, which was run by two British ladies, who had very stiff hairdos and painted on faces.
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Oh, I always wondered how the previous generations managed to get their hairdos stand on their heads like cardboard houses. 🙂 🙂
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Ahah. Yes, the meaning supplied above is correct – it means uptight, inflexible. I can also give you the origin. 😀 Britches is vernacular for breeches, which are an item of horse riding wear, although it was also historically used as a generic word for trousers that fitted closely, and trouserlike undergarments for children, also known as nankeens. Hence: ‘too big for his/her britches’.
Anyway, riding breeches used to have what is called strapping, which is/was reinforced panelling, on the underside of the seat & inside of the knees. Usually doe hide or possibly calf leather. With more expensive breeches, whole garment was made from doe hide. Leather, when it’s new is stiff – so someone with new, expensive breeches was going to find them difficult to move in initially.
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Thank you for this fascinating explanation, FD!!
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