to keep your knickers on

1 9.6

Stay calm and do not become angry or upset

idiom
/kiːp jɔːr ˈnɪkəz ɒn/

: mantén la calma

She told her brother to keep his knickers on and be patient.

Examples

If you keep getting frustrated, just try to keep your knickers on until we sort it out.
Honestly, would you keep your knickers on? There's plenty of time before the meeting starts.
Just keep your knickers on until we sort this out!
There's no need to panic, just keep your knickers on.
You should keep your knickers on and not overreact to the news.
When she heard the delay, she reminded herself to keep her knickers on.
Before you jump to conclusions, just keep your knickers on for a moment.

Synonyms

to keep one's pants on

vsto keep your knickers on

Informal

7 8.5

To stay calm and patient instead of getting angry

focuses on preventing anger or upset rather than patience

to keep your pants on

vsto keep your knickers on

Informal

1 8.6

Stay calm and be patient

is the British informal form focusing on avoiding anger or upset

to calm one's tits

vsto keep your knickers on

Offensive

9.9

Tell someone or yourself to relax and stop being angry in a rude way

is the British informal way to ask for calm without vulgar words

to keep your tits on

vsto keep your knickers on

Offensive

9.9

Stay calm and do not get angry or impatient

is the British informal phrase asking for calm without coarse language

Antonyms

to upset

362 1.0

Make someone feel sad or worried

to lose one's temper

2 3.7

To suddenly become very angry and not be able to control yourself

How Calm

to calm down

Informal

594 1.4

to take it easy

Informal

572 2.5

to keep your knickers on

1 9.6

to hold one's horses

Informal

1 7.2

Surface Forms

keep your knickers on infinitive

keeping your knickers on present participle

keeps your knickers on third person singular

kept your knickers on past

kept your knickers on past participle

Morphology

keep + your + knicker + on

The literal composition 'keep your knickers on' would plausibly be interpreted by a learner as 'continue wearing your underwear' (keep + your + knickers + on), so the idiomatic sense 'stay calm / don’t get upset' is not derivable from the parts. This is an informal, culture-specific British idiom whose meaning is idiomatic and unpredictable for a B1 learner, so it should be classified as opaque.

Etymology

The idiom keep your knickers on may come from the image of someone panicking and starting to pull off their underwear, so keeping your knickers on means not losing control. That's why people say it to tell someone to 'stay calm' or 'not become angry'.