Sweater is, at first glance, an ordinary, familiar and understandable word. But if you dig deeper, it turns out that not everyone knows exactly what it really means. For example, not everyone will immediately say how a sweater differs from a pullover or jumper. Therefore, it will be interesting to consider the lexical meaning of the word "sweater", its origin and make small discoveries.
Dictionary comprehension
How is the meaning of "sweater" reflected in the dictionary? It says about this wardrobe item that it is a warm knitted sweatshirt that has a high collar. Since it has no fasteners, it is put on over the head. ("Nanny Petrovna thought that the gusts of wind had become stronger, and she decided that Alyosha needed to put on a warm shirt over a warm shirt, just in case, and a sweater that she knitted herself.")
I wonder how the name of the object we are considering in the plural sounds correctly: “sweaters” or “sweaters”? As the spelling tells usdictionary, both options are correct and literary. So you can safely use each of them not only in spoken language, but also in writing.
Slimming clothes
To better understand the meaning of the word "sweater", let's turn to the history of the emergence of a knitted product, which is called this term. In its final form, its style was formed around the middle of the 19th century. It was based on traditional everyday clothes, which were preferred by the inhabitants of the northern part of the European continent.
The widespread use of sweaters that were knitted from wool is found by the end of the 19th century. Attention, here comes an unexpected moment! Doctors suggest wearing it not only as a means of warming in cold weather, but also as clothing … for weight loss!
Life hack from English doctors
The fact is that doctors began to recommend their overweight patients, as one of the means to achieve a slim figure, some kind of innovation. It should be noted that the scheme was quite straightforward. It's just that when doing physical exercises, you had to put on a sweater - the thicker (and therefore warmer), the better.
In such a cocoon, of course, it is uncomfortable and hot to do exercises, but it is very effective! Naturally, patients during such an "execution" sweated mercilessly, and their excess fat melted before our eyes. How would they say "sweat" in their language? - in English it is to sweat, from which the word sweater came from. Only now I wonder why modern trainers and nutritionistskeep quiet about it?
Some details
So, thanks to the dictionary, we found out that a sweater is a knitted thing that is intended to warm the upper body. She never has fasteners, pockets, a hood, she has long sleeves. A characteristic feature of the sweater is a high collar that hugs the neck. It can be rolled back in two or even three layers, depending on its height and desire to be more or less insulated.
The sweater is knitted from thick or medium thickness woolen yarn, sometimes from half-woolen. For knitting, knitting needles or a hook are used, less often sweaters are made on special machines, since they are still characterized by large knitting. Its type can be the most diverse, but for the collar and cuffs, as a rule, they prefer "elastic band" of different types.
Another distinctive feature of the sweater is that since ancient times it has been decorated with bright ornaments, as well as patterns that look like reliefs and braids. At the same time, both large knitting and large details and drawings have always prevailed.
In order not to get confused
There are a number of wearable items that are often confused with a sweater. This is, for example, a jumper, pullover, jacket, sweatshirt. How to distinguish them from a sweater? It turns out it's very simple. Here is a quick cheat sheet to help you avoid getting confused:
- Jumper is a round collar, small knitting, no collar and, as a rule, no fastener (if it ishappens, it is rare and no more than 10 cm in length), it can be woolen or knitted.
- Pullover is a V-shaped neckline, medium-sized knitting and always without any fasteners, knitted or woolen.
- Jacket is always a fastener from top to bottom, always knitted, can have a hood and pockets.
- A sweatshirt is something that is in the middle between a sweater (sweater) and a shirt (shirt), which is reflected both in appearance and in the name of this product. It is sewn from dense knitwear, has a round neckline that fits close to the throat, without pockets, fasteners and a hood.
Having considered the features of these products, we can conclude that the sweater stands out among them:
- Mandatory presence of a stand-up collar.
- Lack of fasteners, pockets, hood.
- Knitted texture.
- Coarse knit.
- Relief and patterns.
But the stand-up collar is, of course, the stand-out collar. Looking at the photo of the sweater and seeing the collar there, you can immediately discard all doubts and make sure that it is he, and not a pullover, jumper, jacket or sweatshirt.
A trip to history
At the end of the 19th century, when the sweater spread across northern Europe, it was appreciated by fishermen, as a warm high collar allowed them to do without a scarf. At the beginning of the 20th century, the sweater also became popular with athletes involved in winter sports such as skating and skiing. Do not ignore this knittedproduct and pilots, sailors, submariners. From the 1920s to the 1970s, it became part of the military uniforms in many countries.
Unforgettable Coco Chanel became the guide of the sweater to the realm of high fashion. She took this bold step in the 1930s when she brought models to the catwalk who showed how sweaters look on their fragile figures.
However, in the future, the process of feminization of this initially male attribute was somewhat delayed. A surge in its popularity with the fair sex was indicated in the 1960s, which was facilitated by such cult figures as Hollywood sex symbol Marilyn Monroe, director Ed Wood, and Playboy magazine, which advertised a women's sweater. As a result, there was even a special designation in English for the newly emerged fashionable image - sweater girl, which can be roughly translated as "big-breasted girl in a tight sweater."
But in the 1970s, a new boom came - synthetic - and the popularity of natural sweaters declined sharply. They were replaced by acrylic products. But already in the 1980s in Eastern Europe and the USSR, attention to woolen sweaters returned on the wave of the availability of knitting machines and knitting magazines for the general population. This allowed Soviet women to somehow cope with the deficit and show individuality. Today, the sweater is still a favorite item for both men and women.
