Language desk
< September 5	<< Aug \| September \| Oct >>	Current desk >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

September 6[edit]

How do you call...[edit]

...a woman's dress combining uniformly upper wear and skirt, like this one, in English? Thanks. 212.180.235.46 (talk) 11:47, 6 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like a simple dress to me. Jmar67 (talk) 12:04, 6 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, I'm not aware of a specific name for a dress that doesn't make the top/bottom distinct portions. This is specifically a form-fitting minidress (though note our main article is on mini-skirts), but there's nothing about that descriptionthat defines the beltless look. Matt Deres (talk) 15:57, 6 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Well, two type of dress that don't "make the top/bottom distinct portions" are the shirtdress and the tent dress. Deor (talk) 16:02, 6 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

This one could be called a T-shirt dress, I guess. —Tamfang (talk) 21:34, 12 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

We also have an article on Bodycon dress. More options at Category: Dresses but it's not a very complete category. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 17:40, 6 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

212.180.235.46 -- I have just now looked down a list of about 100 dress types included in Fairchild's Dictionary of Fashion by Charlotte Mankey Calasibetta (2nd edition, 1988), and there doesn't seem to be a general term for a dress with undifferentiated top and bottom. There are terms for dresses with undifferentiated top and bottom which are not tightly-fitted anywhere (A-line, float, muumuu, shift, skimmmer, trapeze, tent dress), and dresses often with undifferentiated top and bottom which are fitted with "darts" and such somewhere on the upper part of the body (chemise, princess, sheath), but the dress in the photo seems to be fitted due to the stretchiness of the material... AnonMoos (talk) 01:18, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

By the way, 212.180, the question you wanted to ask is "What do you call...". "How do you call" asks for an answer like "by telephone" or "by shouting into the window". --76.69.116.4 (talk) 02:51, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The OP's IP geolocates to Poland. And I was likewise thinking, "How do you call this dress?" could be "Heeere, dressie-dressie-dressie!" Although in Spanish (don't know about Polish), the way you ask someone what their name is, is ¿Como se llama?, which means "How do you call yourself?" ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:12, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

While it's not normal in US English, it might be OK in British English or some other variant. Hercule Poirot, the fictional Belgian detective, always asked "How do you call yourself?". SinisterLefty (talk) 15:47, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

No, it's not normal in British English. It is a typical ESL mistake. --ColinFine (talk) 15:57, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

OK, thanks for the info. Anyone know about other variants ? Any Aussies or Kiwis ? SinisterLefty (talk) 18:02, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

"How do you call yourself?" is a literal translation of Poirot's native French "Comment vous appelez-vous?" It's one of Christie's ways of signalling Poirot's foreignness, along with his grooming rituals and partiality for tisanes. DuncanHill (talk) 18:09, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

With that in mind, do French-speaking Canadiens say it that when when speaking English ? SinisterLefty (talk) 18:20, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

"Called" is common in BrE for personal names. UK - "She's called Marcia" US - His name is Marcus. Temerarius (talk) 19:56, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

In US English, to say that someone "is called Marcia" would mean that her actual name was something else. --Khajidha (talk) 20:56, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Like this line from "You Don't Mess Around with Jim": "I'm a pool shootin' boy / By name of Willie McCoy / But down home they call me Slim..." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:20, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Exactly. "Call me ____________" is used to introduce a nickname or hypocorism that the speaker prefers to their formal name. "My name's James, but you can call me Jim." --Khajidha (talk) 22:01, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

"My friends all call me Jim, but you can call me James". :-) SinisterLefty (talk) 22:59, 7 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Right. Another example that comes to mind is Ray Jay Johnson Jr.: "You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay..." and so on. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:21, 8 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

"I didn't know you were called Dennis!" —Tamfang (talk) 21:34, 12 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Lewis Carroll kind of did the ultimate riff on this in 1871: AnonMoos (talk) 00:34, 8 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

"The name of the song is called 'Haddocks' Eyes'."

"Oh, that's the name of the song, is it?" Alice said, trying to feel interested.
"No, you don't understand," the Knight said, looking a little vexed. "That's what the name is called. The name really is 'The Aged Aged Man'."
"Then I ought to have said 'That's what the song is called'?" Alice corrected herself.
"No, you oughtn't: that's quite another thing! The song is called 'Ways And Means': but that's only what it's called, you know!"
"Well, what is the song, then? " said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.

"I was coming to that," the Knight said. "The song really is 'A-sitting On A Gate'…"