Word Detective slams Clear Channel

[FlashHarry]

This has long been one of my favorite sites.

Here's the snippet:

Dear Word Detective:  Where does the word "pajamas" come from? This was a trivia question asked by a local radio station and no one seems to be able to find out. -- Corbett. L. Wilson, via the internet.

Ha.  You only think that's your local radio station.  It's probably just another tentacle of the soulless mega-corporation that is, even as we speak, skulking around the U.S. buying up all the local radio stations and piping the same bland programming into a thousand markets.  I'm not allowed to say the name of the company (Forces of Darkness, y'know) but it rhymes with Deerflannel.  Even the guy who delivers your weather report is probably sitting hundreds of miles away. 

Or maybe not.  In any case, it's a good question.  "Pajamas," known to those of us who wear the kind with large bunny rabbits on them as "jammies" or "PJs," are, of course, sleeping clothes consisting of loose-fitting trousers and a sort of oversized shirt or jacket, usually made of either silk or cotton.  There are variations in style, of course.  I once owned a pair of PJs, light blue with contrasting neckband and cuffs, that strongly resembled a Star Trek uniform.  Unfortunately, according to Mrs. Word Detective, they caught fire one day when she was doing the laundry, and I have yet to find another pair.

Pajamas are such an icon of American life (Hugh Hefner is probably still living in his, an image upon which we should not dwell) that it may come as a surprise to learn that pajamas (also spelled "pyjamas," especially in the U.K.) originated in the Middle East and India.  The word "pajama" entered English in the early 19th century from the Hindi "paejama," which in turn combined the Persian "pai" (leg) with "jamah" (clothing).  The original "pajamas" were loose-fitting trousers worn during the day by people in the region, but adopted as sleepwear by European colonialists.  The matching jacket was only adopted when pajamas were brought back to the chillier European climes.