Here’s a random shower thought that popped into my head recently: why do we call those hairstyles “ponytails” and “pigtails”? When did we decide to define styles of wearing our hair after the rear ends of animals? I realize that I could absolutely look this up, but I’m not going to.
It used to bug me so much as a kid when people constantly referred to my hair as being “in pigtails.” I was, as a teacher once described me in a parent-teacher conference, a very “regal” child, and I must’ve felt it was beneath my dignity to have my hair compared to a pig’s tail.
But also, in my budding English-major brain, it seemed to me that the term simply did not fit the situation. Pigs’ tails are curly; that’s what they’re known for. And, sure, my hair was curly, but the whole point of wearing my hair in braids was that they contained and controlled the curl into a neat, straight braid.
Really, this is the only part of the whole hairdo which would conceivably be compared to a pig’s tail.
I always used the term “braid” – still do. It just feels more dignified.
So I guess this all boils down to the usual response to grammar questions: English is an incredibly weird language.