Talk:Jersey (clothing)

Comments
It's not always used as official uniform description. The big green Army woolly-pully is called a "Pullover HD". --Pete
 * That's a change then. When I was in it was called a "Jersey, Heavy Wool" (JHW). -- Necrothesp 18:27, 29 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Sounds like it has changed, as I've never come across that term. Although I didn't think that kind of stores designation could be changed (would certainly cause confusion). Perhaps the item itself changed a bit, while remaining recognisably the same thing, and it got a new name. I have no idea what the "HD" stands for - the best we could come up with was "high-density" since it's quite thick and heavy, but that doesn't sound very "army" and is probably wrong. Incidentally, the uniform jumper has changed again in recent years, to something much lighter and less chunky. Mostly seen in the RAF version, though, since Working Dress almost everywhere in the Army these days is "Soldier '95" DPM shirts and trousers. PeteVerdon

"It is usually close-fitting and machine knitted in contrast to a guernsey that is more often hand knit with a thicker yarn" Really? Is there a source for this? According to "An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English" (Ernest Weekly) originally published in 1921 (the oldest etymology of English I can find), "Jersey" and "Geurnsey" meant (at the time of the books writing) exactly the same thing. The first simply meaning "knitted in Jersey" and the second being nothing more than the Colonial French word for Jersey. I know word meanings do change over time, but sometimes they only change in colloquial settings when someone makes a mistake in its usage, and locally the mistake is repeated. A source would give some credence to that not being the case with this statement. Since the Earnest Weekly source does exist, and has for nearly 90 years now, there ought to be a source for this statement to show some documentation that the meaning has indeed changed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.169.185.213 (talk) 20:45, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

According to the OED, jersey was used for machine knitted STOCKINGS from the 17th to 19th centuries and was then extended to the pullover. Guernseys (note the spelling) were only the pullovers. Guernsey is a different island, not Colonial French.MidlandLinda (talk) 17:34, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

You can find some info on jerseys and guernseys here. Note that these jumpers/sweaters were really fisherman's jerseys/guernseys, and very widely worn in the British Isles, not only by fisherman. Also, guernseys can still be bought today.Danrok (talk) 11:19, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

Australian school leaver's jerseys
I'm Australian. I went to an Australian high school (two, actually). My brothers and sisters went to a different Australian high school (again, two, actually). My nieces and nephews went or go to yet others, and most of my friends went to still others. But I never heard of the supposedly common custom of "leavers' jerseys" at Australian high schools. There are no citations attesting to its existence, let alone its being common. So I'm going to cut the statements. They ought not to be restored without valid, verifiable citations. And if it turns out to be confined to one region or state far from here that ought to be clearly stated.

Agemegos (talk) 07:14, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

They have JUST started doing it at schools in the UK, when my daughter left primary school one of the mums got a bunch of hoodies made up, but it's a very recent thing, and the school wasn't involved, well not yet, but I am guessing it won't be long before the schools are selling them to make a bit of money for the faculty.

Yakacm (talk) 16:02, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

Infamous?
Jersey was infamous? why infamous? I have changed to word to famous, Jersey was famous for knitwear, later in the sentence it even says 'because of this fame...' surely if infamous was the correct word the sentence would go on to say 'because of this infamy...'

Yakacm (talk) 15:40, 23 March 2016 (UTC)