Word of the Week – Plaid (Tartan)

Did you know that plaid didn’t used to mean the pattern, but rather the garment that often bore said pattern?

Yep! Plaid came to be used in English round about 1510, but it’s from the Gaelic plaide, which means “blanket, mantle.” We’re not really sure where that word came from. Scots would, of course, wear a plaid with their clan tartan on it…but it’s the tartan that meant the pattern, with plaid being the garment.

So when did it come to mean that distinctive pattern of bars crisscrossing at right angles? Not until 1890!

(Funny side note. In her middle school days, my niece was saying she wanted to wear her plaid shirt but couldn’t think of the word plaid so described it as, “You know–the stripey-stripey-crossy-crossy one.” It stuck, LOL.)

Are you a fan of plaid patterns? (They are not my favorite. I was recently bemoaning to my husband that I couldn’t find a soft, button-up, non-dress-shirt that wasn’t plaid. But I do at least have some in colors I like, LOL.)