white goods
- noun
- Archaic
:
ropa de cama
- The store offers a wide selection of white goods including bed sheets and pillowcases.
Examples
-
She washed all the white goods before putting them in the linen closet.
-
After the wedding, they received several sets of white goods as gifts.
-
I need to buy some new white goods for my kitchen.
-
The store has a great selection of white goods.
-
She washed all the white goods before putting them in the linen closet.
-
After the wedding, they received several sets of white goods as gifts.
-
The store offers a wide selection of white goods including bed sheets and pillowcases.
Synonyms
Cloth items used in the home like sheets, towels and tablecloths
Clothes of light color worn for sports or as part of a uniform
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase labels a specific class of household appliances and its connection to the literal constituents is partly conventional: historically these appliances were finished in white enamel, so 'white' + 'goods' has a token-level link, but the specialized meaning 'large electrical household appliances' is not directly predictable from knowing 'white' (color) and 'goods' (products). A B1 learner who knows the words would likely misinterpret it as simply 'products that are white' unless they have seen the industry sense, so the expression is partially transparent but requires lexicalized knowledge.
Etymology
White goods may come from old shops that sold household items like sheets and towels, which people usually kept white after washing and bleaching. So the name links white (the colour) with goods (things for the home), and came to mean 'household linen'.
