Diapers Vs. Nappies

[hazardouskink]

i much prefer 'diapers' simply because 'nappy' has an extremely babyish connotation for me. since I'm strictly DL (not an AB bone in my body) I don't enjoy the connection.

[sarah_ab]

Stuff like "football", yeah, I know what that means to the rest of the world, but we're Americans and damn proud of it, so to us your "football" is "soccer". And not a game that us Americans can really get behind. Hahahahahahaha!!!

speak for yourself silly

GO CHELSEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Yvhuce]

Diaper. As I mentioned in a different topic, "Nappy" is also used as a euphemism for "nasty" (this may be a localism, as I'm not sure of the exact geographical extent of its usage), which always comes to mind when I hear/see the world "nappy".

[DailyDi]

Diapers is my vote... but here in the south it seems all diapers, even adult ones - regardless of the brand - are called "pampers"

[rusty pins]

Our family were traditional and used "napkins", that is a small cloth on your lap (or tucked into the neck, like a bib) to protect clothes from spilled food ("serviettes" did the same job, but were made of tissue paper), and "nappy" (meaning diaper) is the diminutive of "napkin". One old dictionary defined it as a "baby's breechcloth".

I also remember once reading that "Nappy" derived from the word "Napkin", which in the United States is something we wipe our hands and mouth with when we eat. Now, being a person from the United States that often uses the same napkin several times durring a meal, I can honestly say that I would prefer to wipe my mouth with a napkin in the U.S. as opposed to wiping my mouth with a used "nappy" from the U.K. Likewise I wear boots on my feet, not put things in them when driving my car. In the UK people put things in the "boots" of their "autos" and use a "spanner" to fix them while we in the US use a wrench. Likewise, I have a cousin named Lori, in the UK trucker's drive a Lorrie. At least we can understand what each other usually means with their words. If I read something written in French or German, I'm at a total loss to understand it!

[baby-tommy]

nappy it just sounds more imature than diaper

[ultrapampers]

Diapers is my vote... but here in the south it seems all diapers, even adult ones - regardless of the brand - are called "pampers"

Indeed. A lot of my family are from eastern, rural NC and they quite often use "pampers" as a generic term. I once heard an aunt say she had gone to the hospital to visit a friend and, without skipping a beat, she said, "they came in to change her pampers..." There was no judgement or disdain in her voice; she said just as matter-of-fact as declaring the sky was blue!

Another time I was at a family reunion and one of my cousin's toddlers was running around in just his diaper (some saggy generic brand--poor kid). My grandmother asked my cousin, "What kind of pampers do you use?" I had to smile.

[DailyDi]

Yep. I've had Doctors and Nurses call them pampers when referring to my wearing them. Always amuses me.

[Angela Bauer]

In 1930 it was rare for an infant to wear any sort of waterproof cover over a nappy=diaper. Some brands of gum rubber pants were available. In 1937 PlayTex Stretchy Baby Pants made of latex were marketed widely in the USA. By the spring of 1942 in the USA WWII rationing removed all latex and rubber baby pants from the market. Those were replaced by plastic pants. PlayTex did try to sell latex pants after WWII, but gave up in 1954. Still, for 50 years many folk in the USA say "rubber panties" even when the material is vinyl.

Had Huggies hit the market first chances are all disposables would be called huggies and not pampers, especially in Southern communities where disposables are manufactured.

I am always thrilled to communicate with folks in Australia and the UK. The fact they joined Daily Diapers means they understand both terms. I notice since 1990 when I started writing about all this increasingly more Australians use diaper, although they do tend to write dummy or soother instead of pacifier. To me this is a chance for me to practice being flexible.

George Bernard Shaw wrote: "The British and the Americans are two great people divided by a common language!"

We have already discussed terms like spanner, boot and bonnet. There also is a huge difference in "knock up" which can be embarrassing. "Rubber" has different meanings. There is an endless list.

[DailyDi]

Haven't found a pair of the original rubber pants yet, oldest I've found are these plastic baby pants:

http://www.dailydiapers.com/content/valex.html

[Angela Bauer]

During the spring of 1937 my husband Don played the older brother in a non-theatrical short film which introduced PlayTex Stretchy Baby Pants to prospective dealers. Those PlayTex latex pants were launched in the late fall of 1937.

Don was almost 5 when he made that film, but was tall for his age. At the time he was a child actor in New York City mostly on network radio shows.

About 1994 a fan of my old DPF column read about Don making that film. He sent me an original 1950 vintage PlayTex tube container. By then the latex panty inside the tube was little more than dust. So all I have seen are pictures and ads for the PlayTex panties. Shortly after Don and I fell in love in 1991 I did buy a pair of Babykins rubber pants. Never having worn anything except Gerber vinyl panties up to then I did not enjoy those fairly thick rubber panties. Clearly there remain fans of rubber pants.

[babykeiff]

As a few here have started to explain, the word 'nappy' was the anglicized pronunciation for the word 'nappe' - which is the french for table cloth. 'nappe' literal translation is 'protection sheet', and it was the french who began protecting their infants with cloth.

The American term 'diaper' refers to originally the cross-weave of fibers of the table cloth.

It is common, due to US marketing concepts, for a brand name to become the generic name for product i.e

'Binky' = soother from the playtex corp,

Hoover = vacuum cleaner,

'Pianola' = self playing piano,

'diaper' = nappy / 'nappe'

'Pampers' = baby disposable

the list is endless.

So, to answer the question, which do I prefer, both since one is the original, and the other is a trade name. However, the association to the word 'diaper' or 'nappy' is from the original changing as an infant. As a result, the accent and tone that is used when pronouncing the word, and the subsequent act of changing is more important to me than the word itself.

[Yvhuce]

Hoover = vacuum cleaner,

'Pianola' = self playing piano,

Huh... Never heard those generalizations... Most of the people I know use "sweeper" for "vacuum cleaner" and "player piano" for a self-playing piano.

[Marcus23]

Diapers is my vote... but here in the south it seems all diapers, even adult ones - regardless of the brand - are called "pampers"

The guy who owns daily DIAPERS picked diapers.

Intresting

[Vic]

It's odd isn't it? the Daily Diaper chose diaper over nappy, it just baffles me. Life is strange that way.

Rock on,

Vic

[leafy kille]

i am english and speak almost perfect queens english with a lovely accent (tho it has been corrupted a little by my work in the building industry) and i prefer the term nappy, however, to say that i am nappied is rather cumbersome and does not sound right where as to be diapered sounds much better.

generaly i use the word nappy (or nappies plural) and i find all of these instances of a brand name becomeing a general name rather abhorant since a hoover is only one type of vacume cleaner (the best ones are made by dyson i believe) since it over simplifies the isue, a headache is a medial chranial pain if it is in the middle a distal cranial pain if it is on the edge etc... dont bastardise the language simply because you are too stupid to use it correctly.

and for those who didnt understand that go get an education!

i cant stand stupidity determining the development of language, it can only lead to problems.

[Vic]

Don't look at me, I'm as illiterate as they come these days. Actually expecting someone to come around on these boards and for them to be speaking in a gentlemanly way? Are you daft?

There are far too many of the oafish bastards to count. People have not taken the time to remember to speak eloquently around their children, thus the language suffers. It is a sad, sad state of affairs.

Or there are those whose upbringing lacked any of the social graces, and they have no etiquette at all. So it seems that those

of us who were raised with some sense of grammatical accuracy and taste were indeed the fortunate ones.

Who dun learned you to talk?? ( GIT ER DONE!! )

Rock on,

Vic

[Yvhuce]

Who dun learned you to talk??

Now, see... That thar should be... "Who dun lerned ya t'talk???" Don' mangle th' accent, huh?

[Baby Bethany]

I guess it depends where you come from. I mean so much of this whole AB/DL thing is based on our past, that most of us probably have a preference for the word used when we young.

For example, and as I'm English, the thought of a pretty girl saying 'Get your trousers off, and put on this nappy......right this minute!', would have more impact than the same girl saying 'Get your pants off, and put on this diaper......right this minute!' If I were American the opposite would no doubt be true.

Which word came first? I have an old Harrods (London) catalogue from 1897 and in there they call them 'Diapers'. The word 'Nappy may pre-date this though. Either way, it does give me a laugh when I watch an American movie and someone calls the other 'A nappy head'. It gives me a vision of the guy in the movie with a disposable taped over his head, with his little face peeping out one of the leg holes!

Beth

[Mingo]

For me, I just classified cloth as nappies and disposable as diapers. Just seemed more natural as cloth are more like napkin(cotton) and disposable are an artificial substance(plastic).

[Guest Dodi]

as im english when the subject comes up i use the word nappy. but ive always liked the word diaper it has a certain ring to it. aproper unique word lol

[Three Rivers]

I use the word diapers, but I respect others that use the term Nappies.

Just different parts of the world.

[AutieAB]

George Bernard Shaw wrote: "The British and the Americans are two great people divided by a common language!"

As a Brit in the USA, I will certify that is definitely true! The amount of times I say something that makes perfect sense to me only to get a blank stare back is surprising

Despite being a Brit, it's always diapers for me. It's the word that was used by the DL community when I was first finding my feet on t'internet and so it stuck. For me, diapers = adults, nappies = babies. They're very different products so why not different names?

[JDL23]

it does give me a laugh when I watch an American movie and someone calls the other 'A nappy head'. It gives me a vision of the guy in the movie with a disposable taped over his head, with his little face peeping out one of the leg holes!

I understand the context, and I'm aware of the use of the term "nappy head" as a kind of a slur. At least, that was the case with Don Imus and his insensitive remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

Sorry to nitpick like that. In any case, I'm just used to the term "diapers," being from the US, but I imagine that being born in the UK or living there long enough would have endeared me more toward the term "nappies."

[jmcnappy]

Glory Hunter!

Wolverhampton Wanderers For Life. See You Next Season

what wolves behave yourself DERBY COUNTY no one will ever beat there record from last season in the the premiership 1 win all season

ow bye the way nappy nappies nappy nappies nappy nappies