At the turn of the century, boys wore short pants, even on formal occasions. A major milestone in the road to adulthood was their first pair of long pants. We still sometimes hear the term...

At the turn of the century, boys wore short pants, even on formal occasions. A major milestone in the road to adulthood was their first pair of long pants. We still sometimes hear the term “pantywaist” for someone so weak and ineffectual that he is obviously still wearing the short pants of a child.