Why do we have to call it a Balaclava? It is just a hat/cap with a hole in the middle.
We have a cap, hat, beanie, Tuque (Canadian Cap), stocking cap and other single are small double syllable words for the thing we wear on our heads. I feel funny saying “balaclava” for such a small everyday item. Yet we have evolved to be able to say hat, cap, beanie, etc.
Maybe its because the “balaclava” has only been around since the Crimean Campaign (1941). Why didn’t some smart Englishman call it something easier in English?
Maybe we need to make up a good easy name and start a trend. That way we all don’t look/act odd saying “balaclava” when describing a simple cap. Try talking to a bunch of 12 year olds and tell them to bring a “balaclava” on the next outing- you get a bunch of blank stares and they wonder what language you are now speaking and what the heck is it you want them to bring. Even after explaining what it is, they say, “why don’t you just call it a cap with a face hole”, and why are you “trying to sound so cool” saying big words like “balaclava”
Yes this has bugged me for sometime! Someone please come up with a shorter/better name for that simple hat with a hole for your face!

Edited by bestbuilder on 12/15/2008 18:43:21 MST.

> Try talking to a bunch of 12 year olds and tell them to bring a “balaclava” on the next outing
> - you get a bunch of blank stares and they wonder what language you are now speaking and
> what the heck is it you want them to bring. Even after explaining what it is, they say,
> “why don’t you just call it a cap with a face hole”, and why are you “trying to sound so cool”
> saying big words like “balaclava”

Their ignorance of the English language is not a good reason for me to dumb my use of the English language down to the level of an uneducated 12-yr old.

Cheers
PS: nothing personal

Edited by rcaffin on 12/10/2008 14:04:11 MST.

There's no one in my family, down to and including my 9 granchildren, who doesn't know exactly what a balaclava is. To try to call it by a fabricated name would seem more than downright silly.

Roger, is not that I want to "dumb it down", I just think there should be a better way to say it. We have come up with the words Gas or Petrol instead of "aliphatic hydrocarbons" or "petroleum-derived liquid mixture". I don't think I am trying to "dumb it down" when I talk to adults about the type of "Gas" I put in my "car", instead of talking about the kind of "aliphatic hydrocarbons" I put in my "automobile".
Just like car and automobile, we need something better then "balaclava".
Just a pet peeve of mine

How about "Head Cozy"? :-)

>>Maybe its because the “balaclava” has only been around since the Crimean War (1941).

The Crimean War was a bit earlier than that. The headgear is named after the Battle of Balaclava, which inspired some smart Englishman to write "Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred".

Edited by jdw01776 on 12/10/2008 14:55:26 MST.

how about "something you never wear to the bank, no matter how cold it is"

its balaclava. I dont find that hard to pronounce. no harder than tarantula or backpacking.

Edited by mikeinfhaz on 12/10/2008 14:47:23 MST.

I'm thinking 1853-1856.

Also, I'm thinking that we could call a balaclava a "freshkills" if we need a dump name.

Sorry, its Crimean Campaign, not war. (1941-1942)

For more information about the origins of the balaclava see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaclava_(clothing)

I think cap is a lot easier to say then balaclava.
Try it... say "cap" ok, now say "balaclava". "clava" is even easier to say. We do need something better.
We came up with car for automobile, can't we do better the balaclava?

Edited by bestbuilder on 12/10/2008 15:23:53 MST.

>>Sorry, its Crimean Campaign, not war. (1941-1942)

No it was the Crimean War 1853 - 1856. Charge of the Light Brigade, Battle of Balaclava, etc.

I like Mike's: "something you never wear to the bank, no matter how cold it is"

How about "the full-face hat that sounds like a greek dessert?"

Edited by srparr on 12/10/2008 15:27:59 MST.

>>No it was the Crimean War 1853 - 1856. Charge of the Light Brigade, Battle of Balaclava, etc.<<
My Bad... I was shooting from the hip on the History, regardless we need to come up with something better.

It also sound like the dessert- baklava. I would much rather have the dessert in most situations then the "hat".

Edited by bestbuilder on 12/10/2008 16:00:45 MST.

The aforementioned poem was written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. "The charge of the Light Brigade" a lovely poem about a really bad military decision. 600 odd British cavalrymen riding against fortified Russian artillery, with predictable results.

This conflict also gave us "cardigan," used to describe a button up sweater that the 7th earl of cardigan, the leader of the charge wore to fend off the cold.(I think the Brits may have been chilly during this war)

Enough history yet?

When I was a kid, we called it a ski mask, and I'm sure people would know what you were taking about if you called it that.

"something you never wear to the bank, no matter how cold it is"

LOL! , agreed, this is the best term yet.

I second "head cozy".

The full name is of course "balaclava helmet". When I started hiking thick itchy wool balaclavas with a bobble on top were standard wear. I hated them.

Why a piece of protective headwear should still be named after a battle in a nineteenth century European war is one of those strange quirks of nomenclature.

I call mine Frank.

How about 'warm head thingy'?

When topics like this begin to appear it means the advent of the 'tween' season. Too cold to backpack, too warm to ice skate.

Denis, I had just seen "balaclava" spelled out about 20 times in a few minutes on this forum and finally snapped!