Q: Why do we call a single item of clothing "a pair of pants"? — Charlie Duncan, Potsdam, N.Y.

A: Being an average guy, I'll put on my answer one leg at a time.

English speakers use plural words for most garments worn over the legs, e.g. trousers, shorts, tights, drawers, knickers, leggings, trunks, pants (a contraction of "pantaloons," derived from the short, baggy trousers worn by Pantalone, a stock character in 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte).

Linguistic historians believe plural nouns were chosen because garments for the legs were originally made by stitching together two pieces of cloth. Likewise, we speak of a pair of pliers, scissors, binoculars, glasses, tweezers and tongs because these gadgets comprise two distinct pieces.

Q. I've noticed that some people still use the old way of abbreviating states, such as "Conn.," rather than "CT" for "Connecticut." Isn't that the old way of abbreviating the states? — Inge M. Sokolowski, Naugatuck, Conn.

A: Yes and no. Until the 1960s, most people and publications used irregular state abbreviations that included periods, e.g., Conn., Fla., Mass.

But when the U.S. Postal Service implemented ZIP Codes in 1963 (Remember the cheerful but slightly disturbing Mr. Zip?), its streamlined, two-letter, unpunctuated abbreviations, e.g., CT, FL, MA, became the norm.

One of the few remaining holdouts is the Associated Press Stylebook, which sets format standards for most newspapers. Some of their abbreviations consist of the first few letters of a state's name (Calif.) and some consist of the first letter and another letter (Va., Mo.). The A.P. renders two-word names as capital letters (N.Y.), except for West Virginia (W.Va.). Eight short names are not abbreviated: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah.

The A.P. retains these abbreviations because the two-letter zip code designations can be confusing. Is "AL" Alabama or Alaska? "MS" Mississippi or Missouri? "AK" Alaska or Arkansas? "IA" Iowa or Idaho? "MI" Michigan or Minnesota? (It's the former state in each case.)

In informal writing, feel free to use the ZIP code abbreviations. But if you're writing for newspapers and other publications, be sure to check their format standards.

Puzzle challenge: How many common four-letter words (not that kind!) can you make by combining two-letter ZIP codes, e.g., "CANE" (California, Nebraska)? Please send me your entries!

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Photo credit: Steven Depolo