underwear

Is it only me who is annoyed by the usage of the word "panties" for female underwear? As if females are so cute and dainty that even their clothing needs to be named using diminutives.

I do not wear panties, and I have never worn panties. I've only ever worn *underwear* or *underpants*. Perhaps that is simply based on the words I grew up hearing; my mother is not a native English speaker. She also referred to shirts as being "short-armed or long-armed". Once I became aware that this was not standard usage, I stopped using those terms, and used "short-sleeved / long-sleeved" instead. But I've never started calling my underwear panties.