chones

n.pl. underwear, especially undershorts or panties. Also chonies, choners. Subjects: English, Spanish, Mexico, United States, Slang

Editorial Note: Despite its proximity to a mention of lingerie, chonies in the 1928 citation is probably a typographical error for chorines. Etymological Note: (Mexican) Spanish slang chones, perhaps from the Mexican Spanish calzones ‘underwear’ or less probably from the English long johns. The Oxford English Dictionary includes a 1717 first citation for poncho from Frezier’s Voyage to the South Sea in which Chony appears; however, it may be unrelated: “The Spaniards have taken up the Use of the Chony, or Poncho…to ride in, because the Poncho keeps out the Rain.”

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Citations: [1928 Gilbert Swan Zanesville Signal (Ohio) (Feb. 2) “See-Sawing on Broadway” p. 3: These are the days when the buyers come to town in droves and herds; when the lingerie shows go merrily on in hotel and office building display rooms.…Those alluring photos of chonies in ticket brokerage windows.] 1972 Oscar Zeta Acosta Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo @ Race-Ing Masculinity (July 2, 2002) John Christopher Cunningham p. 78: She asked if I wanted to see what was under her panties. To be quite honest I had never seen even the underskirts of my various cousins’ chones, so she lifted up her little red dress and I gently touched that fatty excitement which would hound me for the rest of my life. 1984 Ema Yanes, Angel Arista @ Mexico, D.F. Revista Nexos (Aug. 1) “Un año despues”: Me sali con un fondo y unos chones gratis: me los lleve puestos. 1992 Louis Owens The Sharpest Sight (Feb. 1) p. 178 @ (Sept. 1, 1995): How can I shoot hoops while my pants are drying in here?…It wouldn’t look good, the deputy sheriff bouncing a ball around in his choners. 1994 [Michael Yin] Usenet: soc.culture.asian.american (Mar. 9) “Re: Singapore Airline Girls”: My disclaimer here is that netters are an unrepresentative lot, so don’t getcher chonies in a knot, ‘kay? 1994 Robert Kowalski Denver Post (Colo.) (Aug. 21) “Forgotten Firefighters” p. A1: Chonies—Underwear, as in “You had better change those chonies.” 1994 Terri de la Peña Latin Satins (Sept. 1) p. 67: Dígame, Jess. When did Chic decide to take care of the itch in Rita’s chones? 1994 Dennis Romero Los Angeles Times (Dec. 20) “More to Love; His bod’s larger, his mane’s tamer” p. 1: They give me $ 150 an hour, tell me to strip down to my “chones,” and take pictures of me. 1996 [John Lowe] Usenet: alt.punk (July 26) “Re: the infections and other rip-off items”: Chones means “dirty underwear” in spanish. 1996 Gabriela Martinez @ Mexico, D.F. El Nuevo Inversionista (Nov. 1) “Glamour Lingerie: Con los calzones bien puestos”: Con sus “chones” a otra parte Ante la tormenta, Glamour Lingerie por fin tuvo que reconocer que ya no existian mas las condiciones para que saliera a flote su producto, y no solo por la adversa situacion del mercado, sino porque entre las mujeres mexicanas no existe una cultura del uso de lenceria fina. 1998 Richard Montoya Culture Clash: Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy (May 1) p. 12: Thousands of tourists lose their collective chonies there each year in the barrio streets of their mind. 2000 Cathalena E. Burch Arizona Daily Star (Tucson) (May 17) “Inside the Tucson enchilada” p. E1: Amy Blodgett, who runs a screenprinting business in Tempe and an Internet T-shirt business, concedes her “Keep It Underwear” line of chones won’t stop kids from having sex. 2002 Rick Redding Reno Gazette-Journal (Nev.) (Mar. 16) “‘This kid’s a marvel’” p. 1: He speaks some Spanish, excitedly describing the cartoon characters dotting his blue “chonies”—underwear—to his visitors. 2004 James E. Rogan Rough Edges (July 1) p. 111: If they put on his socks and shoes, they probably put on his choners, too!

Posted 11 Jan 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend