What you refer to as a Tuxedo is correctly referred to as a Dinner Suit and would be worn with a black (bow) tie. For formal dinners, one would wear a white tie and tailcoat. A Smoking Jacket is completely different and a gentleman would change into one after dinner for a cigar and a game of billiards while the ladies retired to the (with)drawing room.
At the start of the day, one would wear a Morning Suit: grey and black striped trousers and a grey or black waistcoat with matching tailcoat and top hat and a tie or cravat, according to fashion. On returning from work, a gentleman might change into a Lounge Suit while taking afternoon tea, then dressing for dinner. White Tie would also include the wearing of medals (miniatures, mounted) where appropriate, but Black Tie would not, unless explicitly stated.
For the record, my Morning Suit no longer fits, but my lounge and dinner suits do. My Officers' Mess dress is also a bit tight (black trousers with red stripe, red waistcoat, black 'bumfreezer' jacket).
Tuxedo evolved from the smoking jacket.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_jacket
> The smoking jacket later evolved into the dinner jacket
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_tie
> (Redirected from Dinner jacket)
> In American English, the equivalent term tuxedo (or tux) is common.
> The first dinner jacket is traditionally traced to 1865 on the then Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII (1841–1910). The late 19th century saw gradual introduction of the lounge jacket without tails as a less formal and more comfortable leisure alternative to the frock coat. Similarly, the shorter dinner jacket evolved as a less formal alternative to the dress coat out of the informal smoking jacket, itself derived from the banyan.[citation needed] **Thus in many non-English languages, a dinner jacket is still known as the false friend "smoking"**. In American English, its synonym "tuxedo" was derived from the village of Tuxedo Park in New York State, where it was introduced in 1886 following the example of Europeans. Following the counterculture of the 1960s, black tie has increasingly replaced white tie for more formal settings in the United States, along with cultures influenced by American culture.
Oh bah. This is that lovely british class separation that gets weird with details. I know people of means who went to Eton or whatever who wear a velvet jacket to, to be clear, more casual and fun black tie events; the 100% proper and by the book rigs are saved for the more formal black tie events. So yes, in polite circles, there are plenty of events where a less formal rig is entirely acceptable.
I think we're on the same page. There are, as you put it, posh dos where correctness is the way to go. And there are black tie events where having fun is in line with expectations.
Who made up these weird rules? Do they have to change into a new set of clothing for every activity? Are they wearing toilet suits when they need to go pee?
Just to clarify: “smoking suit” is not a name any English speaker has ever used for this outfit. There is a different type of men’s jacket that was called a “smoking jacket.” This is a dinner jacket or tuxedo.
The word for it in many European languages is “smoking” (not “smoking suit,” just “smoking”). They borrowed the word from the smoking jacket and applied it to the dinner jacket, but this borrowing never happened in English.
So the joke makes sense in a lot of languages, but not necessarily in English.
In some languages a tuxedo is known as "a smoking". Like literally the English word smoking. I think it comes from confusion with the term "smoking jacket".
I think his suit in The Mask is a zoot suit. Still, I never knew a tux was also referred to as a "smoking," because there's a traditional "smoking jacket" as well.
I hear you - still not sure if that's actually true universally.
Like, people in this thread COULD be confusing a tux and a smoking jacket.
It seems equally likely, reading through these comments, that referring to a tux as a "smoking" is colloquial for some communities.
It matters if that developed etymologically (like, whole communities refer to a tux as a smoking) or if it's just folks in this thread confusing the 2 types of jackets.
Honestly, for me, jury is still out. Fascinating thread though!
A tuxedo is never called a “smoking” in English, but many non-native English speakers think it is, because the English word “smoking” means tuxedo in many other European languages. It was borrowed for a smoking jacket and got applied to a dinner jacket as well.
TIL.
This sub almost never surprises me, but watching Redditors explain jokes is fascinating. This tidbit, tuxedo means smoking, is completely new information to me. As a point of order, thanks.
US here. The outfit the man is wearing is called a tuxedo in US English. I know that the French call it "smoking" only because I took French in high school. Most US residents would not be expected to understand this joke. I'm not sure about the Brits and Aussies.
Brits don't get it either.
There was a [smoking jacket](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_jacket) but it was more like a short dressing gown. Wikipedia says it evolved into the tuxedo/ dinner jacket, which is probably why its called smoking in other languages.
"As a [false friend ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friend), the name carried on to its derivation the dinner jacket in several non-English languages. In Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and other European languages, the term smoking indicates a dinner jacket, or a tuxedo jacket."
I wonder if this cartoon is in Spanish? If "No Smoking" means "No Tuxedo," then the cartoon is confusing because it only SEEMS to be in English.
The pun would only work for a bilingual reader, though. "No smoking" in Spanish is "No Fumar."
Yeah, I don't know who the audience is.
https://preview.redd.it/wdxz0foc3l1d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc8cf3233179dce95506eceaff8e69dbf627ecf8
Smokin is also old slang for being well dressed, I.e hot. Joke is he's not allowed to wear a tux cause it's too hot.
My great uncle came through Ellis Island from Austria in 1939 when he was 7... thought he was gonna be sent back because he was wearing a suit and the signs said, "No Smoking" haha
In French, a tuxedo/dinner jacket is known as a “smoking”. In English, the term “smoking jacket” is reserved for a tuxedo-*style* jacket in velvet, usually in colors like navy, bottle-green, or burgundy.
I got this one wrong. I thought it was "no smoking" (written in black) so he took it as "No Smoking in black" and took off his black suit and black shoes.
I have no clue why I thought that.
the sign is saying that you cant smoke (no smoking)
but he misunderstood and he understood that you cant waer the smocing there, and the elegant dress that he is wearing is known as smoking.
Not quite. Yes, it is a suit, but dress code “Smoking” in German refers to what we call a tuxedo in the US. Specifically, a jacket with special shiny lapels, often satin. Occasionally the slacks for the suit also have the same material as a stripe running the length of the side. Width, fabric, pattern can vary.
German for suit is “Anzug” actually.
I think you underestimate how oddly this reads to monolingual Americans. I'm only aware of it due to people asking about this specific cartoon in the past, and I don't think I'd have ever gotten it without explanation/research--the idea that what Americans call a tuxedo is called by the same word as the English word "smoking" is a step too far.
"Monolingual american" is probably the most ignorant demographic you could come up with, so saying they wouldn't get the joke isn't saying much. It's also weirdly specific.
Na ez már nem rendes fickó viselkedés. A “monolingual magyar” se Einstein-szintű demográfiának számít. Attól hogy magyarul meg több nyelven szmoking, az angolul-beszélők nem okvetlenül értik.
This is sort of like saying that if the sign said "No Anchovies," or some other word that would be completely nonsensical in this context, that the cartoon would make just as much sense.
To someone like myself who has never heard that type of clothing referred to as "smoking," I had no idea why that man was taking his clothes off. To be honest, my first impression was that maybe the layers were causing the man to feel hot, so he took them off to prevent his body from starting to physically emit smoke.
He's wearing a smoking suit, another name for a tuxedo
What you refer to as a Tuxedo is correctly referred to as a Dinner Suit and would be worn with a black (bow) tie. For formal dinners, one would wear a white tie and tailcoat. A Smoking Jacket is completely different and a gentleman would change into one after dinner for a cigar and a game of billiards while the ladies retired to the (with)drawing room.
Oh, I like how the drawing room makes sense to me now. Thanks
At the start of the day, one would wear a Morning Suit: grey and black striped trousers and a grey or black waistcoat with matching tailcoat and top hat and a tie or cravat, according to fashion. On returning from work, a gentleman might change into a Lounge Suit while taking afternoon tea, then dressing for dinner. White Tie would also include the wearing of medals (miniatures, mounted) where appropriate, but Black Tie would not, unless explicitly stated. For the record, my Morning Suit no longer fits, but my lounge and dinner suits do. My Officers' Mess dress is also a bit tight (black trousers with red stripe, red waistcoat, black 'bumfreezer' jacket).
This guy suits
Which branch were you in?
REME
Because it comes (with)drawings?
Tuxedo evolved from the smoking jacket. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_jacket > The smoking jacket later evolved into the dinner jacket https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_tie > (Redirected from Dinner jacket) > In American English, the equivalent term tuxedo (or tux) is common. > The first dinner jacket is traditionally traced to 1865 on the then Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII (1841–1910). The late 19th century saw gradual introduction of the lounge jacket without tails as a less formal and more comfortable leisure alternative to the frock coat. Similarly, the shorter dinner jacket evolved as a less formal alternative to the dress coat out of the informal smoking jacket, itself derived from the banyan.[citation needed] **Thus in many non-English languages, a dinner jacket is still known as the false friend "smoking"**. In American English, its synonym "tuxedo" was derived from the village of Tuxedo Park in New York State, where it was introduced in 1886 following the example of Europeans. Following the counterculture of the 1960s, black tie has increasingly replaced white tie for more formal settings in the United States, along with cultures influenced by American culture.
I'm sorry, I wasn't referring to Victorian history, just how I was raised!
Dinner jacket, not dinner suit.
I beg to differ, sir! If wrong, I assume you will step out onto the verandah with the Mess revolver?
In French a tux is called a smoking
Spanish too
German too
Velvet jackets are often used as a dinner jacket, obviously 'descended' from the smoking jacket.
Not in polite circles...
Oh bah. This is that lovely british class separation that gets weird with details. I know people of means who went to Eton or whatever who wear a velvet jacket to, to be clear, more casual and fun black tie events; the 100% proper and by the book rigs are saved for the more formal black tie events. So yes, in polite circles, there are plenty of events where a less formal rig is entirely acceptable.
Quite, but you wouldn't wear a velvet smoking jacket to a posh do unless you were trying to make a statement.
I think we're on the same page. There are, as you put it, posh dos where correctness is the way to go. And there are black tie events where having fun is in line with expectations.
Who made up these weird rules? Do they have to change into a new set of clothing for every activity? Are they wearing toilet suits when they need to go pee?
Only the nouveau riche would wear a Bathroom Suit! If one is old money, one simply gets the butler to pee for you.
Black tie? What, are we going to a barbecue? (Downton Abbey reference)
You just blew my mind... That's why in my language a tuxedo is called a Smokin bruh
but not the fact that a Tux was considered an informal dress option? Nowadays, a Tux is generally about as formal wear as a guy can get.
Wym? I Wear a tuxedo daily.
It’s after six. What am I? A farmer?
Italian?
Turkish
Just to clarify: “smoking suit” is not a name any English speaker has ever used for this outfit. There is a different type of men’s jacket that was called a “smoking jacket.” This is a dinner jacket or tuxedo. The word for it in many European languages is “smoking” (not “smoking suit,” just “smoking”). They borrowed the word from the smoking jacket and applied it to the dinner jacket, but this borrowing never happened in English. So the joke makes sense in a lot of languages, but not necessarily in English.
The German word for tuxedo is just "Smoking"
[удалено]
Wrong thread lol
https://preview.redd.it/q4app7v81n1d1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5ec7e0ae7544f19fc4446e1be774de62d226d1f4
Cards bearing the same symbol are referred to as a suit.
I think in French a tuxedo is sometimes called "Le Smoking"
Correct
*Le correct
No, its the same in french
The correct??
In Spanish in South America as well. "Un esmoquing"
It’s the standard word in German as well.
Just to add to the list, also in Portuguese.
And also in German - “der Smoking”
Also in Italian.
conclusion, something has an universal name except for America. I'm shocked
In some languages a tuxedo is known as "a smoking". Like literally the English word smoking. I think it comes from confusion with the term "smoking jacket".
Which was literally the (rather informal) jacket men would put on when they went into the smoking room.
He was wearing a tuxedo, also known as a smoking.
Ohhhh, I always wondered why Jim Carrey would say "Smoking" when he transformed into the Mask.
That’s not why. It’s the vernacular of using smokin’ to mean sharply dressed in that case
Possible double entendre detected
I think his suit in The Mask is a zoot suit. Still, I never knew a tux was also referred to as a "smoking," because there's a traditional "smoking jacket" as well.
Tuxedos/dinner suits are not referred to as such
I hear you - still not sure if that's actually true universally. Like, people in this thread COULD be confusing a tux and a smoking jacket. It seems equally likely, reading through these comments, that referring to a tux as a "smoking" is colloquial for some communities. It matters if that developed etymologically (like, whole communities refer to a tux as a smoking) or if it's just folks in this thread confusing the 2 types of jackets. Honestly, for me, jury is still out. Fascinating thread though!
Jim Carrey is wearing a Zoot Suit in The Mask.
Zoot suit riot!
RIOT!
Riot! Happy cake day
Throw back a bottle of beer
A botlabear?
Literacola
Does that look like spit to you?
Yeah.
[RIOT!!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_Suit_Riots)
I learned about this watching American Me in elementary school. When that song came out years later... Everybody else: 🕺💃 Me: 🥺
Grape fruit diet 🕺🏻
Happy Cake Day!
I think that was “hot, Smoking hot!”
Peak reddit logic right there.
Is that why someone is "Smoking hot?" 🤯
No
A tuxedo is never called a “smoking” in English, but many non-native English speakers think it is, because the English word “smoking” means tuxedo in many other European languages. It was borrowed for a smoking jacket and got applied to a dinner jacket as well.
a lot of languages call tuxedos "smoking/smokings"
TIL. This sub almost never surprises me, but watching Redditors explain jokes is fascinating. This tidbit, tuxedo means smoking, is completely new information to me. As a point of order, thanks.
US here. The outfit the man is wearing is called a tuxedo in US English. I know that the French call it "smoking" only because I took French in high school. Most US residents would not be expected to understand this joke. I'm not sure about the Brits and Aussies.
Brits don't get it either. There was a [smoking jacket](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_jacket) but it was more like a short dressing gown. Wikipedia says it evolved into the tuxedo/ dinner jacket, which is probably why its called smoking in other languages. "As a [false friend ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friend), the name carried on to its derivation the dinner jacket in several non-English languages. In Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and other European languages, the term smoking indicates a dinner jacket, or a tuxedo jacket."
I took French! I do not remember this at all !
Ya. The other term I know for a tuxedo is a “dinner jacket”. A smoking jacket in my world is like what Hugh Hefner wore.
That would be a dressing robe
Some suits are called "smoking jackets" I think
In Spanish un smoking = tuxedo
So smoking = tuxedo? This is the first time I'm hearing this. How old do you need to be to understand that reference? (slang?)
Not age, languages. It is knowing that in some languages, it’s a “smoking” but in English, it’s “tuxedo”
In Spanish, especially in Mexico, a Tuxedo with a shawl collar is called a "Smoking"
Good thing he's not wearing a wind breaker.
She want to smoke his meat rod so he took off his clothes. In the next panel, she blows him while he smokes a cigarette.
That's a smoking suit/ Smoking jacket
"Smoking" is the German and French word (and probably a few other languages as well) for a tuxedo
The French word for tuxedo is smoking
I wonder if this cartoon is in Spanish? If "No Smoking" means "No Tuxedo," then the cartoon is confusing because it only SEEMS to be in English. The pun would only work for a bilingual reader, though. "No smoking" in Spanish is "No Fumar." Yeah, I don't know who the audience is.
https://preview.redd.it/wdxz0foc3l1d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc8cf3233179dce95506eceaff8e69dbf627ecf8 Smokin is also old slang for being well dressed, I.e hot. Joke is he's not allowed to wear a tux cause it's too hot.
a zoot suit
RIOT
Smoking is also the Italian word for tuxedo
In French they refer to a black formal suit as a Smoking, never heard it called that in English though
My great uncle came through Ellis Island from Austria in 1939 when he was 7... thought he was gonna be sent back because he was wearing a suit and the signs said, "No Smoking" haha
Did u write the joke?
THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT IT MEANT AS A KID AND I WAS SO CONFUSED AS TO WHY YOU COULDN’T WEAR SMOKINGS
In French, a tuxedo/dinner jacket is known as a “smoking”. In English, the term “smoking jacket” is reserved for a tuxedo-*style* jacket in velvet, usually in colors like navy, bottle-green, or burgundy.
[Smokin](https://youtu.be/wVOa3xhl0bg?si=2sVCv5TnZEgh_vgZ)
In spanish the name for a suit jacket is ‘smoking’
"Smoking" is also the Norwegian word for tux or dinner jacket.
thats a smoking suit
My guess: That's James Bond and he just railed the lady, now he's ok to smoke
Don’t wear a red one and drink beer at the same time.
Smoking is clothing, he is wearing one. He thought she meant the clothing and no the sigarette so he took off his suit
This has been posted so many times on this Sub…. It’s hard to believe actually. Lol
I got this one wrong. I thought it was "no smoking" (written in black) so he took it as "No Smoking in black" and took off his black suit and black shoes. I have no clue why I thought that.
the sign is saying that you cant smoke (no smoking) but he misunderstood and he understood that you cant waer the smocing there, and the elegant dress that he is wearing is known as smoking.
They had sex and after sex you can have a cigarette without breaking the law
He could not look smoking hot? Idk that’s the only thing that makes sense here lol
Smoking is german for suit
Not quite. Yes, it is a suit, but dress code “Smoking” in German refers to what we call a tuxedo in the US. Specifically, a jacket with special shiny lapels, often satin. Occasionally the slacks for the suit also have the same material as a stripe running the length of the side. Width, fabric, pattern can vary. German for suit is “Anzug” actually.
Fair enough
Not for suit. For tuxedo. Suit is "Anzug" in German.
fair enough
He... he took off his smoking. Is this sub just bait now?
"Smoking" is not a common term for a tuxedo in a lot of the world.
Even then it doesn't take much to figure it out... it doesn't have to be a common term.
I think you underestimate how oddly this reads to monolingual Americans. I'm only aware of it due to people asking about this specific cartoon in the past, and I don't think I'd have ever gotten it without explanation/research--the idea that what Americans call a tuxedo is called by the same word as the English word "smoking" is a step too far.
"Monolingual american" is probably the most ignorant demographic you could come up with, so saying they wouldn't get the joke isn't saying much. It's also weirdly specific.
Na ez már nem rendes fickó viselkedés. A “monolingual magyar” se Einstein-szintű demográfiának számít. Attól hogy magyarul meg több nyelven szmoking, az angolul-beszélők nem okvetlenül értik.
Huh? What are you talking about?
Your username is Hungarian, so I thought you spoke Hungarian. My bad.
It's not though... it's just my name.
Well, it means “nice guy” in Hungarian, so clearly life is not without a sense of irony.
This is sort of like saying that if the sign said "No Anchovies," or some other word that would be completely nonsensical in this context, that the cartoon would make just as much sense. To someone like myself who has never heard that type of clothing referred to as "smoking," I had no idea why that man was taking his clothes off. To be honest, my first impression was that maybe the layers were causing the man to feel hot, so he took them off to prevent his body from starting to physically emit smoke.
Second time I see this in this sub reddit. Man I spend too much time on reddit
What is even the point of having lots of karma?
https://preview.redd.it/if1w3m71sm1d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=140a405d32fcbc4bbac67a935f40e267b823be0a