Gansey

[Tamar]

My partner bought me one for Xmas, it's genuine from polperro.
Trouble is I can't wear it, I find it heavy and itchy. I have soaked it overnight in a lanolin solution. Still itchy. Am I missing something?
It cost her a lot of money and I need to wear it I think.

 

[johnalison]

I wasn’t aware of that spelling but I see that it is in use. I have trouble wearing wool next to the skin, though I appreciate its warmth. The only solution I have is to wear cotton under it, usually a brushed cotton shirt with a collar.

 

[Poignard]

My partner bought me one for Xmas, it's genuine from polperro.
Trouble is I can't wear it, I find it heavy and itchy. I have soaked it overnight in a lanolin solution. Still itchy. Am I missing something?
It cost her a lot of money and I need to wear it I think.

I suppose the fishermen for whom the jerseys were originally knitted wore thick woollen "combinations" underneath. Also they didn't soften their skins by frequent bathing.

 

[TiggerToo]

man-up.

They are supposed to "stimulate" your skin..

 

[jimi]

When I were a lad a Gansey was a NE Scottish Doric word meaning a roll necked woollen jumper. I wasn’t aware of Cornish connections as far as I’m aware it has Scandinavian etymology.

 

[Poignard]

When I were a lad a Gansey was a NE Scottish Doric word meaning a roll necked woollen jumper. I wasn’t aware of Cornish connections as far as I’m aware it has Scandinavian etymology.

I never knew that. I always assumed it was a corruption of Guernsey.

 

[penberth3]

My partner bought me one for Xmas, it's genuine from polperro.
Trouble is I can't wear it, I find it heavy and itchy. I have soaked it overnight in a lanolin solution. Still itchy. Am I missing something?
It cost her a lot of money and I need to wear it I think.

To be fair, it's nearly summer. I don't think you'll be complaining when we're back to -10C

 

[Gary Fox]

My partner bought me one for Xmas, it's genuine from polperro.
Trouble is I can't wear it, I find it heavy and itchy. I have soaked it overnight in a lanolin solution. Still itchy. Am I missing something?
It cost her a lot of money and I need to wear it I think.

Get her to try it on herself, and say how thin and sexy she looks wearing it. You will never get it back.

 

[LadyInBed]

I never knew that. I always assumed it was a corruption of Guernsey.

Same here, it seemed logical - Guernsey and Jersey jumpers.

 

[Poignard]

You probaly have to anoint it with a mixture of fish guts, red ochre and stockholm tar for twenty years to season it.

 

[Tamar]

I'm realising that I need to man up.

 

[st599]

My gran would talk about not forgetting Gamp, Gansey and Galloshes when it was raining.

 

[jimi]

Having done a little research the Norwegian for jumper is genser, which is the likely origin

 

[Tamar]

Well we are out at sea on a charter, I'm wearing the Gansey, it's sunny with a brisk north Westerly and I must say this jumper is getting more comfortable as the day goes on.
If I remember 30 years ago I served on a minesweeper and we were issued with the most comfortable white submariners jumpers, soft, not itchy at all.

 

[johnalison]

Having done a little research the Norwegian for jumper is genser, which is the likely origin

So the Norsemen came west wearing jumpers and settled in Guernsey where the Celtic locals misunderstood what they were saying and ended up calling their place Guernsey? Makes sense.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

So the Norsemen came west wearing jumpers and settled in Guernsey where the Celtic locals misunderstood what they were saying and ended up calling their place Guernsey? Makes sense.

My understanding is that The French spoken in the Channel Islands is Norman French, and the Normans were second generation Viking immigrants!

 

[Aardee]

Having done a little research the Norwegian for jumper is genser, which is the likely origin

I believe the Irish/ Gaelic word for Jumper is Geansai (don't trust the spelling, it's been a while...)

 

[LadyInBed]

Having done a little research the Norwegian for jumper is genser, which is the likely origin

Interesting,

Definitions from Oxford Languages
gansey
/ˈɡanzi/

noun
DIALECT• WEST INDIAN

1. a sweater or T-shirt.
   

 

[[70521]]

After a childhood of my late mother knitting all sorts of wooly jumpers, actually she was very skilled and would easily knit four jumpers while watching Wimbledon on the TV. I have vowed never to wearing one of these horridly itchy things again.

 

[pvb]

When I was a kid, "gansey" meant cardigan, I think.