american english - "Your fly is open" "You mean my flies?"


Apparently, when a gentleman has forgotten to zip his pants, in the US they remind him thusly



Your fly is open



Dictionary.com lists the noun fly meaning: 20. a strip of material sewn along one edge of a garment opening for concealing buttons, zippers, or other fasteners.


But in the UK a trouser zipper is also called flies,



Your flies are open



Huffington Post, edition UK, has the following title in their light-hearted article dealing with the social faux pas:



“Your Flies Are Undone!”



The article then mentions a British euphemism that was commonly heard before WWII that signalled the gentleman to fasten the buttons on his trousers.



“There’s a star in the East”



The British writer, and The Times journalist Philip Howard, seems to confirm the validity of this phrase.


Questions




  1. Are the terms "fly" and "flies" interchangeable? Are Americans and British generally aware of the two expressions?




  2. What is the origin of "fly" and "flies" (i.e. men's zippers)?





Answer



In Britain the term was always flies, as in your flies are undone.


The only people I have heard refer to a fly in this regard are Americans. However the two expressions can sound the same, and the difference not be apparent, since an American might say your fly's undone which sounds a bit like the British term flies.


I think the British expression goes back to the days before zips came in (1960s?) when they were always buttons - hence suggesting a plural rendering, flies being short for fly buttons.


I'm not old enough to remember anyone saying "there's a star in the east", the usual modern euphemism is to tell the unfortunate he is "flying low".


I think Americans had zips before we did, the British male for a time considering them too effeminate, before they caught on. ("Real men don't wear zips in their clothing" may have been the sentiment.)


The OED entry with examples follows. It draws no specific distinction between British and American usage, but from the examples it is fairly clear which ones are which.





  1. Something attached by the edge. Cf. flap n. 4.


    a. A strip or lap on a garment, to contain or cover the button-holes; hence something used to cover or connect (see quot. 1884). spec. (frequently in pl.) the piece of cloth that hides the fastening at the front of a pair of trousers; also, the fastening itself.




1844 Queen's Regulations & Orders Army 154 [Trousers] Open in front, with a Fly and Five Buttons.


1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. IV. 351/1 Fly, the fore flap of a bootee. A strip of leather which overwraps the front vamp and receives the strings or other fastening.


1941 I. Baird He rides Sky 234 A pair of tennis shorts with zipper fly.


1942 E. Paul Narrow Street i. 6 The professor..turned toward the pissoir, unbuttoning his fly en route.


1952 ‘Vigilans’ Chamber of Horrors 27 The words button one's fly are offensive only to the prurient.


1953 M. Dickens No More Meadows i. 49 Champ, your flies are undone again. That boy! He'll be arrested yet.


1959 R. Fuller Ruined Boys ii. viii. 128 ‘Your flies are undone,’ said Matley primly.



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