In following a Facebook reference to “hipsters” who are driving up the price of sub-premium beer, I learned that a term I thought obsolete–hipster– has been revived to describe a subculture defined by, among other things, an interest in gourmet food and old clothing.
Another of their characteristics seems to be a preference for misspelling the word waist in the fashion expression high-waisted.
For example, here is an example from a post giving advice for adolescents who wish to identify with the hipster culture:
Alternatively, for women, high-wasted pants (a.k.a. “mom jeans”) may also be worn.
The misspelling is reflected on Ebay and other places clothing is sold:
NEW LADIES WOMEN PLAIN PENCIL STRIPED STRETCHY HIGH WASTED TUBE SKIRT SIZE 8-14
The term high-waisted comes from the noun waist:
waist noun. The portion of the trunk of the human body that is between the ribs and the hip-bones
The term high-waistedis an adjective meaning that the waist of the garment rides above the waistline.
The noun waste has a very different meaning:
waste noun. Uninhabited (or sparsely inhabited) and uncultivated country; a wild and desolate region, a desert, wilderness.
The construct high-wasted/high wasted is nonsense.
