Strength in numbers

How many pants are in a pair of pants? Learn about 11 plural-only words

Image: Hannah Busing

Some words just can’t be left alone. You can have a pair of glasses, climb the stairs, or dip into your savings, but try talking about just one "glass," (for your eyes) "stair," or "saving," and it suddenly feels a bit off. These traits go unnoticed most of the time, but they do exist. These 11 common words exist only in the plural form.

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It probably has to do with a pair of glasses having two separate pieces of glass, one for each eye. A similar element, but with a single glass, would be called a monocle.

Therefore, glasses only exist in their plural form, as only two make a complete set.

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The word "clothes" is always plural because it refers to multiple garments, not just one. Also, it differs from "cloth," which means the material.

Historically, "clothes" evolved from "cloths," once the plural of "cloth," which also meant a garment. As "cloth" shifted to mean just fabric, "clothes" kept their meaning as a collection of items like shirts, pants, or socks.

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A pair of scissors is composed of two blades, each with a handle attached to it, held together by a screw in the center. That is why it is called a pair of scissors and not just one scissors.

Theoretically, one could have a single scissor, meaning one blade, but it would not serve its natural purpose of cutting things by sliding the two blades together.

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The word "stairs_"_ is plural because it refers to a set or flight of steps, not just one. The structure involves multiple steps, making the plural form more natural in everyday use.

Yes, "stair" can appear in older texts or compound words like "staircase," but it’s less common and often refers to a single step or the entire flight. Still, most people use "stairs" to describe the full set.

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Not unlike the previously mentioned glasses, "pants" are always plural because they come from pantaloons, which were originally two separate pieces: one for each leg. Even though modern pants are a single garment, the plural form stuck.

"Pants" is just a shortened form of "pantaloons," and the idea of two leg coverings helped keep the plural usage alive through habit and tradition.

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This one can seem tricky at first, since a person could, theoretically, own a single thing, but there is a logical explanation as to why it is a plural-only word. "Belongings" is plural because it refers to a collection of personal items someone owns, like clothes, books, or furniture. It implies more than one object, making the plural form natural.

The singular "belonging" has a different meaning altogether: it describes the feeling of being accepted or fitting in, not physical possessions.

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The word "headphones" is usually plural because it refers to a device with two earpieces worn on both ears. While "earphones" can describe the individual parts, the full set is commonly called "headphones."

Modern headphones are typically stereo and designed as a pair, which, in turn, reinforces the use of the plural form.

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The word "species" is used for both singular and plural forms, especially in biology. It comes from Latin, where the form was the same in both cases, which explains the modern usage.

In the world of taxonomy, "species" acts as a collective noun for organisms with shared traits.

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Similar to scissors, the word "tongs" is always plural because it describes a tool made of two connected parts that work together, just like scissors or pliers. This dual structure leads to the use of a plural noun, even for a single tool.

In English, tools with two joined parts are often plural nouns used only in the plural. It’s a common use born out of how these items are constructed and used.

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A word with grim connotations, indeed, "remains" is usually plural because it refers to leftover parts or pieces of something, like uneaten food or human remains. Even when it’s one item, it’s seen as part of a whole that’s no longer intact.

It works as a collective noun, emphasizing the idea of multiple fragments. Though not strictly plural-only, it’s almost always used in the plural to reflect this meaning.

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No one talks about "saving," meaning a collected amount of money. And that is because the word "savings" looks plural but can act as either a plural or a mass noun. For example, "significant savings" treats it as plural, while "the savings are substantial" treats it as a total amount.

As a mass noun, "savings" refers to the money saved overall, much like "money" itself. As it was seen in the previous examples, context determines whether it's treated as singular or plural.

The backbone of our language

Are your ears burning? This might be why!

Image: Lidia Nemiroff

Your body does a lot more than move you around; it even slips into the way you talk. From head to toe, clever idioms using body parts are a staple of everyday conversation. If you want to learn more about what these 10 idioms really mean and how they started, keep reading!

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After the argument, she kept her coworker at arm’s length to avoid more drama.

Remember that friend-of-a-friend you’re not so sure about? The one you’d rather not let get too close? That’s someone you keep "at arm’s length." This common phrase comes from the old practice of measuring distances with body parts (not so old, really; we still measure in feet), and an early version even shows up in Shakespeare’s 1599 play As You Like It, where the line goes: "Hold death awhile at arm’s end."

Image: Lina Trochez

When my car broke down, a kind stranger stopped to lend me a hand.

Many expressions we use figuratively today started out in very literal situations. That’s the case with "to lend a hand," which originally referred to physically using your hands to help someone with a task. Over time, the meaning expanded, and the phrase can now be used for any kind of help.

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His birthday is on the tip of my tongue… wait, is it next Thursday?

You’re chatting with your best friend, remembering old times, when a familiar song pops into your head. You remember the lyrics perfectly, but who was the singer? Ahh… It’s on the "tip of your tongue"! Used in English since the 16th century, this idiom describes those moments when something feels just within reach but doesn’t fully come to mind.

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Ever since they met, he’s been head over heels for her.

When was the last time you were completely captivated by someone or something? In those moments, you could say you were "head over heels." The phrase dates back to 14th- and 15th-century English as "heels over head," originally describing literal upside-down movements. Over time, it evolved into its modern form, describing the feeling of being madly in love.

Image: Enis Yavuz

I’d give my eye teeth to get tickets to that concert!

In the past, canines (often called eye teeth because they sit just below the eyes) were among the most important teeth. Losing one was a big deal, which likely explains the origin of this idiom. It’s still used today to describe a major sacrifice or something someone desperately wants.

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I bet your ears are burning after that email went around the office.

It turns out your ears can "burn" even when there’s no infection. This kind of burning has a different interpretation: it means someone is talking about you behind your back. It’s not always negative, but it does involve gossip. The idiom comes from ancient beliefs that physical sensations in the body could indicate external events.

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Renovating the old house is going to cost us an arm and a leg.

When something costs an arm and a leg, it means it’s extremely expensive or requires a big sacrifice. There are two main theories about its origin: one, now widely regarded as a myth, suggests that in the 15th century, artists charged more if a portrait included the subject’s arms or legs. The other theory links the phrase to the serious physical sacrifices soldiers can make in war.

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Break a leg at the competition; everyone’s rooting for you.

When you tell your singer friend to "break a leg," you’re not wishing them anything bad; in fact, it’s the opposite. This idiom comes from old theater superstitions, where saying "good luck" was thought to bring exactly the contrary. To avoid tempting fate, people would say something negative to actually wish someone something positive.

Image: Kelly Sikkema

He cried his heart out after saying goodbye to his childhood home.

Since ancient times, people have believed that the heart is where emotions live. So when you "cry your heart out," you’re letting out all your feelings, often very intensely. The phrase usually reflects pain, sadness, ordeep emotional suffering.

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Even though we argued, he’s still my flesh and blood, and I’ll always protect him.

This idiom is much less creepy than it might sound at first. To be someone’s "flesh and blood" means you are part of their family, or are treated as if you were. Some sources trace one of the earliest uses of this phrase to an Old English translation of the Bible, specifically in Matthew 16:17.