Have you noticed how many names we have for types of shoes? Some are stranger than others...
Take the winklepicker. This footwear is characterised by extremely pointed toes, like the pins used to extract shellfish [my Mum's holiday treat was to sit on the seafront at Leigh on Sea with a pin and a cup of cockles or winkles. Hush Puppies are even stranger. Allegedly Civil War soldiers threw these soft cornmeal snacks to their dogs to keep them quiet
- and a shoe salesman thought this was a good name for his brushed pugskin casuals.
You can work these out for yourself!
My pink plastic sliders are very comfy, but quite chunky. Sometimes, in the "old" kitchen,
I'd nudge the plinths by accident and they would fall out with a clatter. Bob now refers to them as my Plinth Kickers!
Are there shoe names which amuse you?
My rubber soled brogues squeak with a Scottish accent.
ReplyDeleteBut my Oxford Brogues make me feel very intelligent
DeleteLoafers sound quite lazy. I've worn Monk Shoes and Espadrilles though the latter is a lovely word. Aussies call Flip-flops 'Thongs' - Flipflop is a lovely name!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wear flip-flops, they sound too indecisive (and my feet are uncomfortable with "toe-posts") And thongs are uncomfortable undergarments imho
ReplyDeleteBaffies is the name often used for slippers in Scotland but we tend to use it for any shoes that make you walk with a shuffle! Catriona
ReplyDelete🥿🥿🥿 I didn't know that word!
DeleteSandshoes, Plimsolls, and Pumps, rubber soled canvas shoes. I like the bit of history, Samuel Plimsoll got the maximum load line painted on British ship hulls in 1876.
ReplyDeleteI have always called them Plimsolls, like you I like Samuel's story!! These little canvas beauties get called so many names across the UK, as I have discovered when teaching children PE!! 👞👞👞👟👟👟
DeleteMy late husband call plimsolls Daps.He came from the West Country
DeleteDaps is definitely west country
DeleteSneakers is the word that comes to mind. I guess you'd call them trainers?
ReplyDeleteYes we would 👟👟👟
DeleteMy mother had kinky boots in the 1960s... they were like shoes with wet-look skin tight knee socks. You could buy the sock bit separately to convert your ordinary court shoes.
ReplyDeleteI had a pair of those!
DeleteOur Shetland relatives call slippers 'smucks' and our gym shoes were sometimes referred to as 'gutties'.
ReplyDeleteIs that from the "gutta percha" rubber strip and the edge, do you think?
DeleteI believe so!
DeleteWe live near the home of Clarks Shoes, at one time desert boots were popular, ‘pasties’ were popular footwear too. It’s daps for PE here, DIL from Derbyshire calls them pumps. Since having 2 new knee, thank you NHS, I can flip flop so much easier 😀
ReplyDeleteBob mentioned "pasties", popular in the 70s. I longed for a pair of desert boots I my teens
DeleteI grew up with plimsolls, but converted to "sneakers" in Canada. I guess we sneak around a lot here! Your reference to winkle pickers reminded me of eating winkles as a child. They were really good!
ReplyDeleteSneakers is a transatlantic term I think
DeleteI seem to remember having a pair of fancy slippers called Mules! They were black velvet with a furry cross bar, think they had a wedge heel. Not at all practical though.
ReplyDeleteOh so glamorous . But why call them mules ‐ a hardworking, stubborn equine - I can't see the logic!
DeleteI cannot believe shoes were advertised as Brothel Creepers. When I was a kid, there were men's ankle boots in, I think, suede or pale leather that were called desert wellies.
ReplyDeleteBC seems a strange name I agree
DeleteA brilliant post Angela and the Brothel Creepers and your Plinth Kickers had me chortling at this end. Thanks for brightening my Monday xx
ReplyDeleteGlad to make you smile 😊😊😊
DeleteBack in the day (in US), black and white oxfords were called saddle shoes.
ReplyDeleteThese were also called Spectator Shoes or correspondent shoes
ReplyDeleteSuch a good fun post. So many different names for footwear.
ReplyDelete👞👟🥿👡
ReplyDelete