Thongs

Question

What are now called flip-flops used to be called thongs, maybe because of the post between the big toe and the next toe, or maybe because of the two straps that end at the post.
Does the name flip-flops only apply to cheap floppy ones, like the cheapest made of foam rubber, or does it apply to fairly expensive ones to, such as those made with layers of leather and toold leather straps.
When did their name start to become flip-flops, and was this started by the invention of thong underwear.
Did people used to use flip-flops for underwear?
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Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]What are now called flip-flops used to be called thongs,[/nq]
When I was growing up (1960s), we called them "jandals". That was undoubtedly a trade-name, but we used it (like kleenex, etc.) as a generic term.
I was aware that they were also "thongs", but only encountered "flip- flops" much, much later 1980s, probably.

Cheers, Harvey
CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]On 30 Aug 2007, mm wrote[/nq]
[nq:2]What are now called flip-flops used to be called thongs,[/nq]
[nq:1]When I was growing up (1960s), we called them "jandals". That was undoubtedly a trade-name, but we used it (like kleenex, etc.) as a generic term. I was aware that they were also "thongs", but only encountered "flip- flops" much, much later 1980s, probably.[/nq]
When I wore such things (in the 1960s) they were already called flip-flops. I didn't encounter "thongs" as a word in everyday use until a lot later. Insofar as there is a differencein my mind, I think of flip-flops as things you might buy at a beach shop on the Mediterranean, whereas thongs would be about ten times more expensive and you'd buy them at a shop with fashion pretentions.
athel

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What are now called flip-flops used to be called thongs, maybe because of the post between the big toe and ... does it apply to fairly expensive ones to, such as those made with layers of leather and toold leather straps.[/nq]
I can't speak for everyone, but the expensive leather ones would be "sandals" in my terminology. Even if the design is the same as the foam flip-flops, the material elevates them to sandals.
[nq:1]When did their name start to become flip-flops, and was this started by the invention of thong underwear.[/nq]
I was familiar with the flip-flop footwear decades before women started wearing thong underwear. In those days, the only women wearing a garment similar to thong underwear were strippers, and they called it a "G-string". (Primitive societies excluded from this comment)

Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What are now called flip-flops used to be called thongs, [/nq]
They're also called zories.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What are now called flip-flops used to be called thongs, maybe because of the post between the big toe and the next toe, or maybe because of the two straps that end at the post.[/nq]
I thought a thong was thomething you thing. Thilly me..
[nq:1]Does the name flip-flops only apply to cheap floppy ones, like the cheapest made of foam rubber, or does it ... leather straps. When did their name start to become flip-flops, and was this started by the invention of thong underwear.[/nq]
To the best of my knowledge, in the most basic sense a "thong" is nothing more than a thin strip of material (usually leather) used to lash two items together. So originally, the term "thong" applied to footwear referred to the thin strip of material that keep the soles lashed to the feet that is, they were shoes fastened to your feet by thongs. Applied to underwear, it refers to the thin strip of material that keeps the garment, as it were, lashed to the pelvis. More generically, the term "thong" applies to any piece of material used to lash two items together (though in this generic sense it might apply more specifically to leather I'm not sure about that).

The name "flip-flop" for the footwear is almost certainly an onomatopoeic name, after the sound they make when you walk in them. I have no idea when it came into popular use, but AFAICT it was in use long before thong underwear was popular. Whether "flip-flops" applies to expensive thongs is largely a matter of your audience and whether it makes pretensions about its footwear there's no clear-cut line between what is a thong and what is a flip-flop, and many people use them completely interchangeably.
[nq:1]Did people used to use flip-flops for underwear?[/nq]
I once saw a baby with a cloth diaper lashed to it body by broken rubber bands tied together does that count?

Usenet · Answer

When those pieces of footwear first appeared, somewhere near 1960, they were of rubber (not foam) and were worn at the beach or around the swimming pool. Everyone I knew called them thongs.

The current word, flip-flop, seems to be used for these and for sandals of leather (or faux leather plastic) intended to be worn with clothing other than bathing suits. Most of the sandals in the shoestores are of this design, with a number of them also having insanely high heels.
I think the change came when that ridiculously tiny (and I'm sure, uncomfortable) scrap of underwear took the word.
Cece

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]When those pieces of footwear first appeared, somewhere near 1960, they were of rubber (not foam) and were worn at the beach or around the swimming pool. Everyone I knew called them thongs.[/nq]
Nearly everyone I knew called them thongs, but one family I knew of called them go-aheads.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]What are now called flip-flops used to be called thongs, [/nq]
[nq:1]They're also called zories.[/nq]
My friend remembers these I think it was a brand name from the 70s. She said they were cheap, sold in supermarkets and maybe drugstores, and came in bright red, green, and maybe blue.
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for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]When did their name start to become flip-flops, and was this started by the invention of thong underwear.[/nq]
This was the subject of one of the BBC's "Balderdash and Piffle" excursions. Prior to this, OED had 1970 as their earliest cite but they now have:

"1958 P. D. JAMES MS Descr. in H. M. Customs & Excise Declar. Personal Baggage (official form) (O.E.D. Archive), Maps, 1 pair of 'flip-flops', 1 shirt (white), 1 shirt (coloured) (etc.). 1960 D. STRONG MS Diary 2 July (O.E.D. Archive), Bought flip flops. Walked to pool."

They also established there was no truth in the story that they were named after their French inventor Philippe Feloppe.
Prior to all this, 'flip-flop' was used for an electrical switch (from
1935), a somersault (from 1902) and the flap of the ear (from 1661).OED dates 'thong' (= G-string) to 1975

John Dean
Oxford

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What are now called flip-flops used to be called thongs, maybe because of the post between the big toe and ... people used to use flip-flops for underwear? If you are inclined to email me for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)[/nq]
I recall both terms being used when i was a kid {1960s}. I wouldn't wear them no matter what name was used.

Thongs

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