THONGS

A friend and I were going out to lunch and she said that out of deference to me she had donned a pair of shoes and long pants rather than her typical attire of shorts and sandals. She said that she always wears sandals all summer long and she noticed that I never wear anything other than shoes, even during the summer. I do have several pairs of sandals, but I only wear them when they "match" something. I am so trapped by the "never wear white after Labor Day" dictum, which includes not wearing any open-toed shoes after summer. Oh, and how I still abide by those silly rules of "fashion" one grew up adhering to (CLICK HERE to see my BLOG article NEVER WEAR HORIZONTAL STRIPES).

Some in my family--including myself--still use the word "thongs" to describe those rubber, floppy, sandals held on the foot by a strap between the big toe and next toe! I had never heard of the footwear called "thongs"--let alone the term--until my brother who was in the navy in 1959, brought them home. My other brother (from the Army) called them "shower shoes" and another friend always said "zories" and another said "go-aheads", but all one hears now is "flip-flops".

The history of the various iterations is interesting. CLICK HERE to see the article from one of my favorite sites Grammarphobia called "Who's Zori Now" (that title is just TOO cute!).