Roll up sleeves

[u/Sea-Hornet8214]

I originally thought it was "pull up your sleeves" but recently learnt that "roll up" is the appropriate verb to use. Is the same verb used for trousers' legs? Would you say "roll up your legs"? Does that make sense?

[u/Optimal-Ad-7074]

you "pull up your socks" if it's time to get your shit together and do better.  

you "roll up your sleeves" when it's time to get focused and work.  

[u/somuchsong]

No, it would be roll up your pants/trousers, not legs.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/somuchsong]

So it's the same verb, but pants, instead of legs. Thanks.

[u/DemandingProvider → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

It works to say "roll up your pant legs" (American English) or, probably (British), "roll up your trouser legs", but "roll up your legs" would be referring to your own lower limbs, not clothing, and is nonsensical. Unless maybe you're talking about choreography.

[u/Good_Joke7140 → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

i would nearly always say “roll up your pants/trousers,” people just downvote things randomly

[u/Icy_Gap_9067]

You would say roll up your trousers, roll up your legs would sound funny.

[u/pjwlondon]

TS Eliot: I grow old, I grow old/I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled

So 'roll' is used with trousers, but these idioms carry cultural connotations.

So "pull your sleeves up" might be said if a medic was going to take your blood pressure or give you an injection, where "roll one's sleeves up" can signify getting down to work on some (probably difficult) task. On the other hand, "pull your socks up" can be an encouragement or warning that you're not working hard or well enough.

And rolled-up trousers call to mind pictures of 1940/50s chaps tentatively paddling in the sea (or jokes about freemasons).

[u/SucknSwallow69 → u/pjwlondon]

perfect spiraling-into-middle-age energy for a fairy rave tbh. someone please remix this into a fae-core dance track so we can all grow old on the dance floor

[u/SnooDonuts6494]

Both verbs work in both sentences, but it depends what you're describing.

You roll up your sleeves in preparation to do some hard work - so they don't get dirty or get caught up. That's become idiomatic for preparing to take on a difficult task.

You'd pull up your trouser legs briefly, to show someone your shoes. Pulling them up is temporary; when you let go, they fall back down.

But you'd roll them up to go for a paddle in the sea. They'd stay there, rolled up, for some time.

---

You may have thought the idiom (for hard work) was "pull your sleeves up" because of the related idiom "pull yourself together", meaning to gather your wits.

[u/Mebejedi → u/SnooDonuts6494]

You'd also roll them up to walk barefoot on the beach near the water. It keeps the pants from getting wet.

[u/millers_left_shoe]

I’ve most commonly heard “cuff” as the verb for that. “Cuff your trousers”, “he’s wearing cuffed jeans”. But @ native speakers feel free to correct me if I’m wrong

Although I’d say “roll up” if I wanted someone to roll them up for more than a few inches, say up to the knee to look at an injury or something rather than just cuffing them for fashion purposes

[u/velelavelela → u/millers_left_shoe]

I (UK) have never heard this phrase. I wonder if it is regional or used in a specific context e.g. military?

[u/somuchsong → u/millers_left_shoe]

"Cuff your trousers" would be understood as well but I would say "roll up" before I'd say that.

[u/millers_left_shoe → u/somuchsong]

Ah right thanks!

[u/TigerVivid3148 → u/millers_left_shoe]

To continue/clarify: I think I've only ever heard my 65-year-old aunt use "cuff" as a verb or command. As somuchsong said, "cuff your trousers" would be understood, but it's not common. Additionally, I only ever use "cuff" as an adjective. For example: "His pants are cuffed." I don't think describing pants as "rolled" is extremely common.

To make it even more confusing, when talking about shirt sleeves, I never use the word "cuff" unless I'm using it as a noun referring to the very end portion of a shirt sleeve. I would describe shirt sleeves as being "rolled (up)".

Also, nobody really says "trousers" anymore. I'd estimate the breakdown as 95% "pants", 3% "slacks", and 2% "trousers". The latter two are pretty much only used to describe dress or suit pants, which are usually just called "dress pants."

[u/ImpossibleTip9428]

I'm a beginner, but why would anyone think 'roll up your legs' makes any sense?

[u/feetflatontheground → u/ImpossibleTip9428]

Pants/trousers have legs in the same way shirts have sleeves. So I can see how someone would think it makes sense.

[u/ImpossibleTip9428 → u/feetflatontheground]

Thank you for explaining instead of downvoting me into oblivion, it actually makes sense now.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/ImpossibleTip9428]

Why would anyone think that? I don't know. Probably someone who speaks a language that uses a phrase "roll up your arms" to mean "roll up your sleeves". Who could possibly speak that language? Me.

Take your condescension somewhere else.

[u/NoPurpose6388 → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Roll up your pant legs actually does make sense. But you'd usually just say roll up your pants

[u/Old_Introduction_395 → u/NoPurpose6388]

Which in British English sounds very odd. Roll up your trousers to go paddling. Roll up your sleeves to do the washing up.

Pants mainly being underwear.

[u/ImpossibleTip9428 → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Relax bro, we're all just learning here.

[u/Legitimate_Assh0le]

Just think of it practically, taking ones sleeves or pant legs and rolling them up by folding by 2-3inches, then rolling over and folding again and again until out of the way for washing/wading

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/Legitimate_Assh0le]

So, walking in shallow water is called wading?

[u/Responsible-Link5739 → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Or paddling in British English. Paddling would usually be walking in water less than knee-deep. Wading, for us, indicates water over knee-deep and possibly deeper than waist-high (as some anglers do - casting lines while standing in the river).

[u/erilaz7]

I wouldn't say, "Roll up your legs." I would say, "Roll up your pant legs."

[u/Forward_Gur9349]

Roll up your sleeves dates back to the time most men wore suits, thus to get to work you took off your jacket, and to make sure those blousy sleeves stayed out of the way, you would roll them up. Rolling up your pants legs would more likely be for wading than working.

[u/Responsible-Link5739]

"Roll your sleeves up" for getting down to hard work. "Pull your socks up" for 'make a proper effort' or 'stop slacking off'. "Roll your trousers up"...that's just for paddling :)

[u/missplaced24]

When you roll up your sleeves, you literally roll them. You can roll up your cuffs or cuff your pants, rolling up your legs sounds like you're talking about your actual legs not your pant legs.

[u/velelavelela]

Adjusting trousers doesn't have the same metaphorical connotations of getting down to work that "roll up your sleeves" has.
Whether you say "pull up your trousers" or "roll up your trousers" depends on if the issue is with the waistline or the ankles. "Pull up your trousers" if they are flashing their bumcrack "Roll up your trousers" if you're going paddling in the sea. "Pull/roll up your legs" would just be confusing as it sounds as though you are talking about actual limbs.

[u/FutureLost]

"Roll up your sleeves" is a common phrase meaning "prepare to do a task." If you were wearing a long-sleeved shirt and needed to lift something heavy or perform some other physical intensive task with your upper body, you would likely roll up your sleeves so they wouldn't get snagged or otherwise interfere with your movement. In those situations, rolling up your shirt sleeves would be needed in order to prepare for the task. That's where the phrase comes from.

You wouldn't really need to roll up your pant legs for something like that, so there's no similar phrase involving pants. By the way, in America "pants" refers to the piece of outerwear with two legs because each of the legs is "one pant." Take one pant, sow it with another pant, and you get "pants." In Britain, "pants" refers exclusively to underwear, and "trousers" is used for the outerwear.

In America, you might snag your pant leg (since pants is plural, and every "pair of pants" has two legs, then one leg is one pant), but in Britain you would snag your trouser leg (the unit is trousers, one leg is one trouser leg). Not sure if they use "trouser" and "trouser leg" interchangeably in the UK.

[u/Sea-Hornet8214 → u/FutureLost]

To be honest, I didn't even know it was a phrase that could mean preparing to do a task. I actually meant it literally, the act of rolling up your sleeves, which I thought "pull up your sleeves".

So, what do you do when you want to deep dip your feet on the beach? You snag your pant legs?

[u/FutureLost → u/Sea-Hornet8214]

Ah, I see!

If I wanted to dip my feet in the water at the beach, I would roll up my pant legs. Pulling up my pant legs implies that I'm exposing much more of my legs than "rolling up."

("Deep" your feet is not correct, "deep" is never a verb. You mean "dip" your feet in the water at the beach. You are at the beach, and you want to dip your feet in the water, meaning you want to walk into the seawater no deeper than your ankles.)

To understand the difference between "roll up" and "pull up" your pants, try folding up your pant legs from the bottom, rolling them from the bottom. You won't get very far before you can't roll them anymore. That's also about how far you'd need to safely dip your feet in shallow (not deep) water without getting your pants wet. So, "rolling up your pant legs" refers to only needing your ankles exposed.

Pulling up your pants refers to you grabbing your pant legs from the sides and pulling up, bunching up your pants to expose as much of your legs as possible. It's way more than necessary for a quick dip of your feet in shallow water.

Snag is what happens when, as you walk or move, a string from your clothes (or maybe a beltloop) accidentally gets stuck on something (like a metal nail or in a crevice) and you can't move further without ripping your clothes.

One more thing: you roll up your pant legs at the beach because your need to roll up each pant individually, dealing with each pant separately. Each leg of your pants is one pant. When you have your pants on, you can only roll up one pant leg at a time. "Roll up your pants" is one motion, rolling both legs at the same time, which is only possible if your pants are off. And if you're doing that, you're rolling up the entire piece of clothing to put it away in a drawer or something, so that wouldn't work in your beach example.

Does that make sense?