The New York in Nylon Stocking
Tuesday June 24, 2003
Liz H. wrote in to let me know that I had incorrectly reported that the 'ny' in 'nylon' stood for "NY" as in the state/city of New York. As it turns out, Liz found out that this is nothing more than an urban myth. I still don't know how the name nylon was arrived at, however, nylon and nylon stockings were first introduced and demonstrated to the public as part of the 1939 New York World's Fair.
two thoughts on nylons. one suggests it is an acronym for “now you lousy old niponese” since only japanese silk stockings were available before nylons invented. very doubtful true. second it was a combination of “New York” and LONdon with the standard “-on” ending designation for synthetic polymers. this is plausible.