# leaky/holey sock



## Andrew1980

Hi, 

I wonder how to say correctly in everyday situations that my sock has hole in it. May I say:

"Mom, my sock is holey and my toes are peeking out of it. Could you darn it?"

Thank you.


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## morzh

You say: My sock has a hole in it  Can you mend it for me?

(PS. Although I know the word "darn", I'll be darned if I ever heard it. It is usually "mend").


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## Andrew1980

OK, thank you


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## boozer

You tell me your sock is /'həʊli/ and I will think you darn  crazy beginning to deify your socks.  I agree with the walrus - I would not say my sock was holy/holey  I would use his version.


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## Myridon

We don't generally use "holey" for something full of holes even though it is understandable.  It sounds like holy (blessed or sacred) so "holey priest's robe" might be quite confusing.
Darning (a euphemism for "damning") your holy sock might send it to heck (hell).


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## Loob

I wouldn't have a problem with "my sock is holey", which would, to me, mean "my sock has lots of holes [not just one]".  I'd probably expect an intensifier in the sentence, though: _Mum! My sock's really holey! Help!_

"My sock's leaky" wouldn't work, because I don't expect my socks to be watertight.


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## PaulQ

In BE, *holey *is not that uncommon and may be used quite freely for clothes, containers, etc. Holey socks are particularly common, as are holey jumpers.

*Holey *is used informally and is unlikely to be mistaken, in context, for *holy*. 

(Except in the case of the Holey Bucket of Ephesus, which I have just invented  )


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## Loob

morzh said:


> (PS. Although I know the word "darn", I'll be darned if I ever heard it. It is usually "mend").


Just wanted to add - child that I am of the throw-away second half of the twentieth century, I throw holey socks away rather than take a needle and cotton  to them. But if I _did_ take a needle and cotton to them, I'd be darning them rather than mending them.

I have been known to darn things, occasionally.  Though not socks....


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## Lis48

Actually in the era when the Beatles were singing that song, most of the girls I knew, including myself, used to *darn* our stockings with needle and thread. If we just *mended* them, it would mean we dabbed some nail varnish on the run to stop it progressing.


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## Loob

Lis48 said:


> Actually in the era when the Beatles were singing that song, most of the girls I knew, including myself, used to *darn* our stockings with needle and thread. If we just *mended* them, it would mean we dabbed some nail varnish on the run to stop it progressing.


Oh gosh, Lis, I remember doing that nail-varnish thing!  (But I wouldn't actually have called it _mending_ - not sure what I'd have called it, other than "sticking nail varnish on it"....).  In the Beatles song, I'm sure "mending" was chosen because it rhymed with "never ending".


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## PaulQ

The Beatles knew socks were darned: Eleanor Rigby,


> Father McKenzie, writing the words
> of a sermon that no one will hear
> No one comes near
> 
> Look at him working, darning his socks
> In the night when there's nobody there
> What does he care?


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## boozer

Lis48 said:


> we dabbed some nail varnish on the run


That does not mean you did it while running, does it? 

Well, I must admit I overplayed a bit the possible misunderstanding between holy and holey with reference to socks - I mean, of course the meaning is quite clear within context. Despite that, it would take me approximately 0.012654 secs to grasp it. 

(I know fishermen darn their fishing nets. The same would potentially be qualified to darn stockings like these: http://www.google.bg/imgres?q=net+s...dsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:24,i:155&tx=89&ty=79)

PS. It saddens me to hear socks in the UK are no longer made watertight, Loob.


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## zaffy

And if there is a hole in a pot, saucepan,  etc, can it be described as holey or leaky? 

"How are you going to cook soup in that holey/leaky pot? Get rid of it"


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## sound shift

"Holey pot/saucepan"
"Leaky pot/saucepan": possibly.


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## zaffy

So is it  not possible to describe a pot with a hole with an adjective?


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## ewie

If it had an actual visible hole in it, I'd most likely describe it as _knackered_ 

_You can't use that pot ~ it's knackered!_


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## heypresto

Oh, I thought we were talking about this sort of thing:







Or:


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## ewie

<lost>


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## Roxxxannne

ewie said:


> <lost>


Holy pans.


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## Packard

Loob said:


> Just wanted to add - child that I am of the throw-away second half of the twentieth century, I throw holey socks away rather than take a needle and cotton  to them. But if I _did_ take a needle and cotton to them, I'd be darning them rather than mending them.
> 
> I have been known to darn things, occasionally.  Though not socks....


   

I agree.  I cannot imagine this sentence coming up in 2020.  Men's socks cost just over $2.00 each and are nowadays considered (by most) disposable after holes start to appear.  Also, darning works for cotton and wool, but would be extremely difficult with modern stretch fabrics.

Darning is the little sister of re-weaving (which is also rarely done except on the most expensive garments).


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## Roxxxannne

Packard said:


> I agree.  I cannot imagine this sentence coming up in 2020.  Men's socks cost just over $2.00 each and are nowadays considered (by most) disposable after holes start to appear.  Also, darning works for cotton and wool, but would be extremely difficult with modern stretch fabrics.
> 
> Darning is the little sister of re-weaving (which is also rarely done except on the most expensive garments).


I would not darn a $2.00 sock, but I have knitted socks by hand (for so-called entertainment and to practice swearing) and I have darned those.  There is a knitting technique to make the heel of a sock called the 'afterthought heel.'  You knit it into the rest of the sock after everything else is done, and if the heel gets a hole in it you can rip it out and put a new heel in again.
Also, sock yarn has some nylon or similar material that withstands friction better than straight-up wool.


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## Packard

Roxxxannne said:


> I would not darn a $2.00 sock, but I have knitted socks by hand (for so-called entertainment and to practice swearing) and I have darned those.  There is a knitting technique to make the heel of a sock called the 'afterthought heel.'  You knit it into the rest of the sock after everything else is done, and if the heel gets a hole in it you can rip it out and put a new heel in again.
> Also, sock yarn has some nylon or similar material that withstands friction better than straight-up wool.


The kinds of socks that can reasonably be darned probably require garters.


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## Roxxxannne

Is this Canadian porn?  He looks a lot like Justin Trudeau to me.


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## ewie

Roxxxannne said:


> Holy pans.


<still lost>


Roxxxannne said:


> I have knitted socks by hand (for so-called entertainment and to practice swearing)


  


Roxxxannne said:


> Is this Canadian porn?  He looks a lot like Justin Trudeau to me.




About a decade ago I found out that my best friend wore all his socks *once* then threw them away  (He came in for a lot of ribbing for that. Pardon the _pune_.)

I was going to say something more on-topic than this but have forgotten what it was.


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## heypresto

ewie said:


> <still lost>


Holy/holey pans/puns


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## zaffy

Loob said:


> I wouldn't have a problem with "my sock is holey", which would, to me, mean "my sock has lots of holes [not just one]".



That's interesting. Why would that adjective not refer to just one hole? In Polish we say "This sock is holey" and there might be any number of holes, including one.


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## Packard

Loob said:


> Just wanted to add - child that I am of the throw-away second half of the twentieth century, I throw holey socks away rather than take a needle and cotton  to them. But if I _did_ take a needle and cotton to them, I'd be darning them rather than mending them.
> 
> I have been known to darn things, occasionally.  Though not socks....


"Holey Socks" *sounds* like socks wearing a clerical collar or a habit. Of course if written it would not to be confusing.


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## Edinburgher

"Holey socks, Batman!" is something Robin might say upon finding someone who had shot themselves in the foot.



Packard said:


> Men's socks cost just over $2.00 each


Each?  You buy them singly?  I hope they're buy-one-get-one-free!


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## Packard

Edinburgher said:


> "Holey socks, Batman!" is something Robin might say upon finding someone who had shot themselves in the foot.
> 
> 
> Each?  You buy them singly?  I hope they're buy-one-get-one-free!



Gold Toe brand at Amazon. I usually buy two dozen pair of identical socks at one time so that I don’t have to worry about them matching. It’s been a couple of years since my last purchase. The Amazon pricing is current and correct. 

But my point is that they are too cheap to bother repairing so hashing over the original post is really moot. That sentence would not likely to be needed.


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## lingobingo

zaffy said:


> Why would that adjective not refer to just one hole? In Polish we say "This sock is holey" and there might be any number of holes, including one.


Well, that doesn’t apply in English. As you can verify by looking the word up in any dictionary that doesn’t think it’s good enough to just give a cross-reference to “hole” (yes, I mean you, Lexico).


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## zaffy

lingobingo said:


> Well, that doesn’t apply in English.



Got it. Thanks to all of you. So how would you paraphrase this sentence that I made up, which is a direct translation form Polish? 

"I often see him wearing holey socks. He must me poor"


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## ewie

_I often see him with holes in his socks. _[plural _holes_ because it's multiple occasions therefore multiple socks and holes]


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## sound shift

Or _I often see him wearing socks with holes in them._

Could be describing me. I don't see the need to be presentable if I'm going to be 'locked down.'


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## zaffy

And can a sweater be holey as Longman claims? I believe it also sounds weird to you and no native speaker will say so just like with socks, right?

holey | meaning of holey in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English | LDOCE


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## Barque

zaffy said:


> And if there is a hole in a pot, saucepan, etc, can it be described as holey or leaky?


I've never seen a pot or saucepan with a hole in it. I've seen pans with broken handles and dented edges, but not a hole. 


zaffy said:


> Why would that adjective not refer to just one hole? In Polish we say "This sock is holey" and there might be any number of holes, including one.


It _is_ a different language.


zaffy said:


> And can a sweater be holey as Longman claims?


I can imagine a sweater being called holey. Knitted garments are much more likely to get holes in them than others, with regular wear making the gaps between the threads bigger.  

I believe you also get holey sweaters that are deliberately made that way.


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## zaffy

Barque said:


> I can imagine a sweater being called holey. Knitted garments are much more likely to get holes in them than others, with regular wear making the gaps between the threads bigger.
> 
> I believe you also get holey sweaters that are deliberately made that way.



So this is a holey blouse, right? And here holes are not due to wear-out but it is the pattern of the outfit, right?


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## Barque

Yes.


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## zaffy

Barque said:


> I've never seen a pot or saucepan with a hole in it.



Well, in the past pots were made of plain steel, thus they corroded and developed holes. In Polish I would say the picture shows a "holey pot". Of course it is corroded/rusty at the same time. 






We also often talk about "holey buckets". This is an old bucket for sale. It's been called an "old, holey bucket"


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## heypresto

What you say in Polish has no bearing on what we say in English.  It's very unlikely we would use 'holey' to describe these items.


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## lingobingo

zaffy said:


> So this is a holey blouse, right?


Wrong. It’s not even a blouse. It’s an open-weave knitted top. You might _casually_ use the word holey to describe it (I can’t find my beige top. You know, the holey one.), but that’s as far as it goes.

As we’ve established, the relatively rare word *holey* implies that something has a number of holes in it, and it’s mostly used for things that have gone into holes unintentionally, through wear or damage.


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## ewie

(Is no-one else curious as to why someone should be selling ~ let alone buying ~ a bucket with a hole in it?)


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## lingobingo

(Perhaps it’s one that some famous person kicked?)


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## heypresto

(All buckets have holes in them. How else could you fill them with water?)


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## Packard

zaffy said:


> And can a sweater be holey as Longman claims? I believe it also sounds weird to you and no native speaker will say so just like with socks, right?
> 
> holey | meaning of holey in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English | LDOCE


From my observation the Collins Dictionary is possibly the best reference for language learners.  I do confess that the American definition lists the origin that has be perplexed:

_Word origin
ME  _(Is this supposed to mean "Maine"?)

_Holey definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

*holey in American English*

 (ˈhoʊli  )

 adjective
 having a hole or holes


*holey in British English*

 (ˈhəʊlɪ  )

adjective
*Word forms: *holeyer or holeyest
full of holes

_


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## heypresto

Packard said:


> holeyer or holeyest


  Really?


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## Edinburgher

Packard said:


> _ ME _(Is this supposed to mean "Maine"?)


That'll be "Middle English", i.e. medieval.
Deep down, you knew that, didn't you?


heypresto said:


> (All buckets have holes in them. How else could you fill them with water?)


Buckets, like bottles, don't have holes. They are topologically equivalent to a flat disk, unless you count the two holes where the handle is attached.
Doughnuts have one hole.


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## Packard

Edinburgher said:


> That'll be "Middle English", i.e. medieval.
> Deep down, you knew that, didn't you?
> 
> Buckets, like bottles, don't have holes. They are topologically equivalent to a flat disk, unless you count the two holes where the handle is attached.
> Doughnuts have one hole.


Buckets have "openings", or "fill spouts".


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## heypresto

Edinburgher said:


> Buckets, like bottles, don't have holes. They are topologically equivalent to a flat disk, unless you count the two holes where the handle is attached.
> Doughnuts have one hole.



I never let facts get in the way of a good joke.

(Or an attempt at one anyway)


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