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enter image description here

I have a bath towel but it is not long enough for me to to tie a knot in the towel or let me tuck its edge in the bath towel itself.

For that reason, I need to use a peg to get the towel in a fixed position.

Is it correct to say "I fixed the towel with a peg"?

Tom
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    In US English we would normally call the thing in the picture a **clothespin**, not a "peg". Even **clothes peg** would be understandable, but not just "peg" by itself. – stangdon Aug 10 '21 at 16:03
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    In my experience of UK and "colonial" English, peg or clothes-peg would be fine. – Ronald Sole Aug 10 '21 at 16:28
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    I guess it depends on who you are talking to. Without a graphic, I would think you had repaired a torn towel with a small, wooden cylinder. I would have no idea how you did it. I would describe the action as, *I clipped the towel together with a clothespin.* – EllieK - Don't support her Aug 10 '21 at 16:38
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    Why would you want to say this? Sure you might do this, but I find it hard to imagine a natural context in which you would then need to tell somebody else what you did. Can you describe the situation that would lead to you needing to tell somebody how you wore a bathtowel. – James K Aug 10 '21 at 21:30
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    @JamesK "Why would you want to say this?" Because friends make small talk. – RonJohn Aug 11 '21 at 00:57
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    @EllieK this question made me chuckle. – RonJohn Aug 11 '21 at 00:58
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    Before seeing the image, I pictured someone driving a stake (a peg) through a towel into the ground (fixing it in place), perhaps at the beach or the park for a picnic, to stop it from being taken by the wind or something. – JoL Aug 11 '21 at 05:13
  • @JoL before I saw who the author is, I thought the OP must have been thinking of a safety pin to close (fix) a rip, and the "peg" was an errant translation. – Mari-Lou A Aug 11 '21 at 07:20
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    @RonaldSole (also British here) I think *clothes*-peg would be helpful, or context to suggest the type of peg but "I pegged the towel round me" wouldn't need "clothes-". As a verb, "clipped" could also be used, describing the action well, rather than the less important item – Chris H Aug 11 '21 at 09:33
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    I (an American) would probably say, “I **fastened** the towel with a **clothespin**.” The sentence for me was a “crash blossom,” where I thought the words of the sentence meant something different until I read the last word. – Davislor Aug 11 '21 at 16:24
  • @JoL the OP seems to have excluded the generic "fastened", and fastening with something like a tent peg is more like pinning! – Chris H Aug 11 '21 at 17:37
  • My question is, why is peg used for clothes peg in UK english. It's the *only* time a peg describes something that clips/fastens without being a (n often tapered) cylindrical object. (AM English here, hence the confusion) – TCooper Aug 11 '21 at 20:57
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    @TCooper clothes pegs were cylindrical wooden objects originally, but with a split up the middle, known as 'dolly pegs' or 'traditional wooden pegs'. Also lots of 'pegs' aren't cylindrical, such as wooden tent pegs or jeweler's bench pegs. – Pete Kirkham Aug 11 '21 at 23:21
  • @TCooper not to mention the idiom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_peg_in_a_round_hole rather requires the existance of pegs which aren't round – Pete Kirkham Aug 11 '21 at 23:48
  • @TCooper [here is an example](http://www.laundryetc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/old_pegs-1406.jpg) of what Pete mentions — guess they just didn't change the name when the new-fangled models came in! – anotherdave Aug 12 '21 at 08:48
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    @PeteKirkham I've used the split-cylindrical versions growing up - they still clip/pin the clothes to the line, there's no 'pegging the clothes to the line' involved. Fair point on cylindrical being the wrong word choice - but how about "a(n often tapered) *solid* object with a length multiples that of it's width and height". Never heard of a jeweler's peg before, but a quick search shows it's most commonly called a pin in American english as well lol - although that one is weird to me as depending on the shape, it really is more peg like than pin like. Almost like English has no rules. – TCooper Aug 12 '21 at 22:18
  • Depending on the OPs audience, the word "peg" is hard to mistake for something else in the context of the given sentence (for a Brit at least). However, "fixing" should be replaced with something less confusing as others have pointed out. – alexm Aug 13 '21 at 03:13

9 Answers9

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Two issues:

  1. When "fixed" is used as a verb, the average native speaker is likely to interpret it as "repaired" or "mended" if that is even remotely plausible. Using it to mean "prevented from moving" is likely to cause confusion unless the "repaired" meaning is completely ruled out by the surrounding context, for example in the construction "fix [something] in place." Some alternative words you could use here: secured, fastened, clipped.
  2. The word "peg" is unfamiliar to me in this meaning (as an American). I would call this object a "clothespin" (pronounced "clothes pin"). However, this usage may be acceptable in other dialects.
Kevin
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    I am am English learner an I often choose words that sound completely different from others. I choose "**peg**" because when I hear "**pin**" I think about some tiny needles for fixing papers on a wall such as pushpins – Tom Aug 11 '21 at 02:16
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    "Clothes peg" is standard in British English, and a "clothes pin" would probably be interpreted as a dressmaking pin or a safety pin, not as the thing in the picture. In BrE a "peg" is something like a tent peg, as in the idiomatic phrase "a square peg in a round hole" meaning something non-functional or inappropriate. – alephzero Aug 11 '21 at 02:34
  • @alephzero: Well, Google told me [it's British](https://imgur.com/zzww703). But I think Google is just wrong about that. – Kevin Aug 11 '21 at 04:32
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    @alephzero I definitely remember calling those thingies just "pegs" in England. – Vladimir F Героям слава Aug 11 '21 at 07:23
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    @alephzero I would definitely call that a peg. Given the context of the situation, clarifying what kind of peg is rarely required. I would be very confused if somebody had secured their clothes with a tent peg. I would be equally perplexed if somebody had tied down a tent with a clothes peg. :) – ProgrammingLlama Aug 11 '21 at 10:14
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    As a Canadian/American (about 30 years in each place, Canada first), either clothes pin or clothes peg would work. "Peg" alone does not work. As others have pointed out, when I read "fixed", I was thinking "repaired", not "fixed in place". "I fixed the towel with a peg" made me think it had something to do with putting a "peg" (say a short piece of dowel) into something like a wall and using it to hang the towels up – Flydog57 Aug 11 '21 at 14:20
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    US native here - never heard that called a peg. I might understand it if it was called clothes peg, but it would be weird. They're *always* called clothespins from my experience. – Cullub Aug 11 '21 at 16:28
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    Peg alone is fine for me. I even have a "peg bag" to keep them in! "Clothes peg bag" sounds really awkward to me. – BeginTheBeguine Aug 11 '21 at 20:34
  • I'm with the BrE on the use of peg. I would, however, consider the use of 'fix' to mean 'put in place' rather than 'repair' to be more AmE. Few Brits would ever 'fix their hair'. If they were avoiding specifics like, comb or spray, they'd probably 'do their hair'. [Do, of course, wouldn't work in this instance. The suggested replacements work for me, with maybe 'held' as an addition.] – DoneWithThis. Aug 13 '21 at 09:17
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    @gonefishin'again.: The American usage of "fix one's hair" does not refer to holding it in place, but to *making it look pretty,* regardless of what that specifically entails. The idea is that it is currently "broken" because it does not look pretty. – Kevin Aug 13 '21 at 16:42
  • @Kevin - which perhaps further reinforces that Brits simply never use it in this way. I didn't specify holding in place, you assumed that. You guys also 'fix' dinner… again, I'd never have considered it 'broken' beforehand ;) 'Fix' in BrE [& judging by other answers nor in AusE] **never** means prepare or tidy; it **always** means repair or fasten in place. – DoneWithThis. Aug 14 '21 at 10:46
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British English: "fixed" and "peg" each have multiple meanings and you would probably be misunderstood.

I suggest "I fastened the towel [around me] with a clothes peg.

user20637
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Yes it's correct.

The definition of "fix" includes to secure in place which is what you are doing. You are using a peg to accomplish that so "with a peg" is correct.

US English calls this peg a "clothes pin". In UK English "peg" is correct. The word "fix" can also mean to repair, so you could increase understanding by using a word that doesn't have such a synonym, such as "secure" or "fasten".

But yes, the sentence is completely correct and means what you want, although it could also mean other things.

DJClayworth
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    Native AmE speaker. While there's nothing incorrect about that sentence, I would absolutely not interpret it to mean what OP intended. – Kevin Aug 11 '21 at 14:46
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    It may be that *affix* is clearer than *fix* for the sense of fastening something. – tchrist Aug 11 '21 at 16:28
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    @tchrist 'affix' is transitive. You can only affix *to* something. – DJClayworth Aug 11 '21 at 16:41
  • Transitive means it has an object complement, as in *It is now talked of for the 24th, but it is impossible yet to affix a time.* You're talking about an extra argument as with ditransitive verbs or even ones like *put* that also need a locative expression of some sort. You're right that there are a lot of those, although sometimes *on* or even *with* occurs, not just *to*. However, this is an intransitive use as there is no object: *It affixes to the inside wall of the freezer..with a suction cup that actually keeps it attached.* – tchrist Aug 11 '21 at 18:21
  • Sorry yes. My mistake. It's still a weird word to use, in my opinion. – DJClayworth Aug 11 '21 at 18:31
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    I am also an AmE speaker. Until I saw the picture I understood the sentence to mean that the towel was pinned to the wall or some immovable (fixed) object. I'm not sure that a towel fastened to itself and draped over a person as a garment is fixed in place. – David42 Aug 12 '21 at 18:28
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The phrase to fix [X] with [Y] without context will mean to repair something with something,
e.g. “I fixed the bike with superglue”.

It's uncommon to hear someone fix a towel, a pair of pants, tie, shirt, etc. in place.

In the rare instance that someone needs to describe the solution for a towel that is not large enough to wrap around a torso, one could say it was pinned in place with [a clothes peg] / I used [a clothes peg] to hold it up or it was tied with [something], e.g. a bathrobe belt.

Mari-Lou A
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  • Pretty well every time you use a peg or pin to fix something, it means fix in place, not repair - https://www.google.com/search?q=%22fixed%20with%20a%20peg%22&tbm=bks&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:1990,cd_max:2019&lr=lang_en – Pete Kirkham Aug 11 '21 at 23:52
  • @PeteKirkham none of those examples include a clothes peg though... they're referring to pegs that are similar to dowels – Mari-Lou A Aug 12 '21 at 00:02
  • The same applies if you search for 'clothes peg' and 'fixed', though most of the answers are not the peg doing the fixing and the phrasing is more variable, you have to get to the bottom of page four before the first case of 'fix' meaning 'repair' – Pete Kirkham Aug 12 '21 at 00:19
  • Pete - as a native UK English speaker my immediate interpretation is "He repaired the towel with a peg of some kind" (how the heck do you even do that?!). As for your comment, if the sentence was that he fixed the tent's guyline with a peg, or fixed the flapping object moving in the wind with a oeg, then yes. Fix a towel with * anything *, my mind goes direct to repair, not fix in place, and that just is not English my head can digest, even if technically valid. Sorry – Stilez Aug 12 '21 at 01:18
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    @PeteKirkham You can temporarily repair something with a clothes peg. – user253751 Aug 12 '21 at 08:53
  • As native UK English, "fix" could also mean "fix to", as in stuck it in place. Not just mended, though the distinction is blurred - eg "my towel kept falling down, so I fixed it with a peg" - could be considered "mended it from falling down". – freedomn-m Aug 12 '21 at 09:33
  • @freedomn-m no one is saying that the OP's sentence is ungrammatical or impossible, what I am pointing out, for the benefits of those who are learners and not native speakers, that the most common meaning of to *fix something with something* is different from the one intended by the OP. If you're here because it is on the HNQ, what did *you* immediately think the sentence was about – Mari-Lou A Aug 12 '21 at 11:01
  • @Mari-LouA for transparency, before I saw the picture, I thought it meant to fix it *to* something, eg to a clothes line (maybe because it kept getting blown away). Certainly nothing to do with repairing with a peg - ie the context being towel and peg. – freedomn-m Aug 12 '21 at 11:18
  • @freedomn-m meanwhile I interpreted it differently [*I thought the OP must have been thinking of a (safety) pin to close (fix) a rip, and the "peg" was an errant translation*](https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/294677/is-it-correct-to-say-i-fixed-the-towel-with-a-peg/294730?noredirect=1#comment548490_294677) – Mari-Lou A Aug 12 '21 at 11:24
  • @Mari-LouA not disagreeing - just adding it could *also*. – freedomn-m Aug 12 '21 at 11:28
  • Yes, the point about pinned in place is correct. Pinned in place with a clothes pin or peg. – Lambie Aug 12 '21 at 15:45
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A search in Google Ngram for "* it with a peg" only yields one result.

fasten it with a peg

As an American, I was confused by the word "peg". The cylindrical thing I call a "peg" is not used to "fasten" things and wouldn't hold your towel in place. However, if my South African wife told me "I fastened the towel with a peg" I might have figured out from the context that "peg" = "clothespin".

To be clear, "fixed" is not the right verb. In most of the world, "peg" is the right noun. I don't think you were asking about the noun though. It's just a coincidence that we Americans have a different word for it.

To answer your question, you should say "I fastened the towel with a peg."

Patrick McElhaney
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In Australian English a peg would be used to attach or affix clothes to a clothesline to hang out to dry. So to say you fixed the towel means you stuck it in place or attached it. It makes perfect sense to me.

Darren
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What your saying is not wrong, but as you can see from all the differing comments, it's not unambiguous, given the multiple meanings of 'fix', 'peg' and 'pin'. Whilst assumptions can be made from context, your particular scenario doesn't really lend itself to clear assumptions. To be unambiguous, I think you should say, I fastened the towel with a clothespeg/clothespin. Collectively, items such as buckles, buttons, pins, etc.. are known as fasteners, so fasten would be the best verb to use.

The only thing I would say might be wrong with using the verb 'fix', is that it suggests a degree of permanence. To me, that is the difference between fixings and fasteners. You can unfasten, but you can't unfix. Fixed means unmovable. I assume at some point you would want to remove the towel, and you wouldn't ever say, I unfixed the towel.

Without the image you provided, I would have imaging you holding a towel in pace with something similar to a tent peg. A clothes peg isn't really a peg or a pin. Pegs and pins using piercing to hold things in place. A clothes peg is really a clamp. But if a jellyfish is not really a fish, it doesn't really matter.

Lambie
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Flippsie
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There are a lot of answers already, but maybe it's worth a simple summary:

Outside the US:

I fastened the towel with a peg.

or

I fastened the towel with a clothespeg.

In the US:

I fastened the towel with a clothespin.

Mark Foskey
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To me (Australian English), I would never understand what you meant by "fixed" in this context. Unless you added extra clarifying words like "fixed in place", I'd assume you meant "repaired", and get confused.

Me, I would say: "I used a peg to hold my towel in place", or maybe "I pegged my towel."

(I wouldn't understand the word "clothespin". I suspect I've seen it before, never realised it meant a peg!)

Steve Bennett
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