AboutCarol Pozefsky Expertise Etymology: The origins of English words and phrases.
Anchor/Reporter NBC and CBS Networks. News Director 3 Regional Radio Stations.
Question Hi, I know that in America short hair hanging down over a person's forhead are called "bangs." While in Britain it is called "fringe." So, I was wondering how and why when settlers came to America from Britain it changed from fringe to bangs. If you know please help me. Thank you for your time.
Bye
Answer
Hello and welcome to a new week,
The term bangs, always used in the plural, is, as you know the fringe of hair usually cut squarely across the forehead. According to etymology scholar Robert Barnhart, the term is strictly American in origin (as you mention, the Brits call it fringe) first surfacing in 1878. It was believed influenced by the adverbial use of bang in the meaning of abruptly, as in hair cut bang off; some sources offer a relation to earlier bangtailed (1861) of a horse's tail that has been cut horizontally across.
The best to you always, Carol P.
