DCHP-2

idiot string DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — informal, Clothing

  a string that attaches small objects, usually mittens but also tools or other small items, to clothing to prevent loss (see Image 1).

  Type: 5. Frequency — Idiot string is most frequent in Canada according to internet domain searches (see Chart 1). The term is more affectionate than unkind, since the string helps small children keep track of their mittens; sometimes mittens attached by a string are called idiot mittens (see the 2011 quotation). The term is a preservation in the sense of using an outdated term, i.e. idiot, from a different era.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "idiot string", which is marked "Cdn', while ITP Nelson and Gage-5 do not list the term.

  • Sometimes used in the plural, see, e.g. the 2000 quotation.

  • 1986  That's not to say they're sombre in their sensibleness; anything but. Touches of fun abound in witty hats and woolly gloves on idiot strings, pullovers boast "artist" on the front or big Rs, twin sets sizzle with brilliant stripes. 
  • 2000  Good hand spikes come with idiot strings -- a cord that ties them together, that you run up one sleeve, across your shoulders and down the other sleeve. 
  • 2006  Another cold-weather accessory no sensible parent goes without, but probably gives not a second thought to, are idiot strings -- the string running through the arms of children's' snowsuits. 
  • 2010  The iconic Girl in Wetsuit was wearing the mittens draped around her neck with the help of what we as kids called an idiot string. 
  • 2011  [When I was a kid, my Mom made me wear something I remember being identified as "idiot mittens". It was a simple affair ? a piece of string or yarn ran up one jacket sleeve, across the back of the shoulders and down the other, and a mitten was tied to each end. I never understood the "idiot" part. Was my mother referring to the wearer or to the design? Later in life, I did figure out that the moniker was a pretty much universal one, although I continued to ponder the answer to my question.]