# Plastic footwear



## sb70012

Hello,
Look at the picture above, please. Suppose you wear it in the kitchen or at the yard of your house to drink tea or wash your car.

What are these called in the US and UK? Suppose at the yard of your house or in the kitchen exactly this kind of plastic footwear.

Thank you.


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## lingobingo

I’d probbaly call them mules.


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## sb70012

What are they called in the US generally?


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## Language Hound

Just sandals.  We don't usually specify that they're polyurethane or plastic sandals.
I have a few pairs of these and, to differentiate them from my good leather sandals,
I would probably call them by their brand name, i.e., _my Adidas sandals._


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## Myridon

The term "mule" applies to any shoe that doesn't have anything behind the heel. So they are mules, they are are slip-ons, they are sandals, they are shower shoes, ...


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## sb70012

How about slides?


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## Language Hound

sb70012 said:


> How about slides?


That is what Adidas technically calls them.
However, I would never ask, _Where are my slides?_


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## sb70012

What would you call them in your house?

Will you say "Where are my sandals?"


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## Language Hound

Yes.  Or, as I said in my post #4, _Where are my Adidas sandals? _if I want to make it clear I'm not looking for my good leather sandals.


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## Roxxxannne

Yes, or 'Where are my Adidas sandals" if I want to differentiate them from my other sandals of another brand.

cross-posted


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## sb70012

How about these ones? I know that the third picture (the yellow ones) are slippers.

But I don't know what the blue ones and the pink ones are called in English.

What would you call the blue ones and the pink ones? Will you call them sandals too?


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## Language Hound

I would call the blue ones _clogs _and the pink ones _slippers._


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## sb70012

How about in the UK?


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## lingobingo

Most slippers are mules, i.e. they’re backless. But we still call them slippers if they’re designed for slobbing around the house in.


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## sb70012

lingobingo said:


> Most slippers are mules, i.e. they’re backless. But we still call them slippers if they’re designed for slobbing around the house in.


Do you mean in the UK you in post #11 you would call both the blue ones and the pink ones slippers?


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## lingobingo

No. The blue ones are beachwear, I imagine.


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## Wordy McWordface

sb70012 said:


> How about slides?


Or sliders (seems to be more common than 'slides').

When I google  'sliders', I get pictures exactly the same as in your OP.


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## lingobingo

I’ve never heard that term in the UK.


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## sb70012

lingobingo said:


> No. The blue ones are beachwear, I imagine.


Will you use that word in your house? 
If you are looking for them in your house to use them in the garden or yard of your house, will you say to your child "Where are my beachwears?"


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## lingobingo

Of course not.  I don’t know what I’d call them. Probably my blue beach shoes.


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## Wordy McWordface

lingobingo said:


> I’ve never heard that term in the UK.


I believe it's a trendy youngsters' term.  Not for the likes of us


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## Missy Charm

In the UK the footwear shown in the middle and right images would simply be called 'slippers'.  Some people may refer to them as 'mules', but that might be seen as pretentious by some.  The blue things would be called 'clogs', although they aren't commonly worn over here for anything other gardening or otherwise going outside within the confines of one's own property.  You wouldn't generally catch someone putting on that sort of clog for going out to the shops, for example.  Crocs were worn as normal shoes but, thank God, have gone out of fashion.


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## lingobingo

Ah yes. I just checked. It seems to be a new word for slip-ons generally (in Google shopping there are even fluffy mule slippers described as sliders).


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## sb70012

Can we also use the word "shoes" for all of them? Suppose that you go to your friend's house and your friend's English isn't good:

You: Would you please give me a pair of sandals? The floor of your house is so cold.
Your friend: What? What are sandals?
You: How about slippers? Do you have slippers?
Your friend: What? What are slippers?
You: Shoes! Shoes! Can you give me shoes? The floor is too cold.
Your friend: Oh OK OK. Here you are. (And then he gives you the sandals)


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## lingobingo

That conversation (and, indeed, that situation) would be odd in the extreme. But if it did arise, we’d be more likely to say “Do you have something I can put on my feet, please? This floor is freezing.”


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## Roxxxannne

I'd describe sandals with simple words and gestures if I wanted sandals.  I'd expect the person to bring out shoes, not sandals, if I asked for shoes.


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## sb70012

My Canadian friend just told me that except the word "sandals" he would call these slippers too no matter if they are not soft.
Do you agree? Is it OK if I call these slippers too?

Thank you.


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## lingobingo

Yes. If they’re worn around the house as slippers, then you can call them slippers. It really doesn’t much matter what term anyone uses.


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## Language Hound

Wordy McWordface said:


> Or sliders (seems to be more common than 'slides').
> 
> When I google  'sliders', I get pictures exactly the same as in your OP.


Note that in the U.S., sliders are mini sandwiches or hamburgers made with a "slider roll."


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## Wordy McWordface

Language Hound said:


> Note that in the U.S., sliders are mini sandwiches or hamburgers made with a "slider roll."


Yes, the word is used in that way over here, too.

All a question of context, really.


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## Packard

Crocs nearly reached the level of "scotchtape" and "kleenex", brand names that defined the product.

The hideously ugly resin-molded footwear faded enough that others joined in before "crocs" became the name of the product.

I ignore that fact and I call these all "crocs".  (I still don't understand why something as ugly as this became a "trend".  

How Crocs Became the Unofficial Shoe of the Pandemic


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## Myridon

Packard said:


> I ignore that fact and I call these all "crocs".  (I still don't understand why something as ugly as this became a "trend".



Crocs didn't invent that shape.  It's the classic clog used by everyone from Dr Scholl's to Birkenstock to little Dutch boys with their finger in a dyke.


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## Roxxxannne

Those things in the photo in #31, however, are not the same as the blue footwear in #22. I do call the ones with holes in the tops and sides and straps around the heels "crocs." But the blue items in #22 are clogs. And I agree with Myridon.  Clogs have been around for centuries.


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## Aguas Claras

sb70012 said:


> How about in the UK?


I would call them clogs and slippers, too.


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## Esca

“Slides” is fine for me to describe the Adidas sandals. (Personally in AE I wouldn’t call sandals slippers; I’d reserve ‘slippers’ for the fuzzy kind.) 

if you’re looking for a more general term for all of the above, I’d offer “slip-on shoes” or “slip-ons.” Alternatively, you could call them by their use rather than their form—“house shoes” comes to mind.


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## RM1(SS)

Language Hound said:


> Note that in the U.S., sliders are mini sandwiches or hamburgers made with a "slider roll."


In the Navy every hamburger is a slider.

"It's Friday -- sliders and fries for lunch!"


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## sb70012

Hello,
Some Britons told me that in the UK these are called "flip-flops". Do you agree?
Why do they call this flip-flops in the UK?
All dictionaries say that flip-flops are with a V-shaped band across the front to hold your feet.

Like this: 

But the first picture in this post doesn't have a V-shaped band. So why do you call them flip-flops?


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## Uncle Jack

sb70012 said:


> View attachment 69248
> Hello,
> Some Britons told me that in the UK these are called "flip-flops". Do you agree?
> Why do they call this flip-flops in the UK?
> All dictionaries say that flip-flops are with a V-shaped band across the front to hold your feet.
> 
> Like this: View attachment 69249
> 
> But the first picture in this post doesn't have a V-shaped band. So why do you call them flip-flops?


The second picture shows flip flops. I wouldn't call the first picture flip flops. However, since there isn't a single obvious word to call them, I can easily imagine some people calling them flip flops rather than sandals, since they aren't really sandals either. Flip flops and sandals are easily the two most common words for open-toed footwear in Britain, and I expect for most people it is a simple choice between using one word or the other, because they know of no other.


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## CaptainZero

In AusE these are called "thongs", and in NZE "jandals" (portmanteau of "Japanese" and "sandals").


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## sb70012

Uncle Jack said:


> The second picture shows flip flops. I wouldn't call the first picture flip flops. However, since there isn't a single obvious word to call them, I can easily imagine some people calling them flip flops rather than sandals, since they aren't really sandals either. Flip flops and sandals are easily the two most common words for open-toed footwear in Britain, and I expect for most people it is a simple choice between using one word or the other, because they know of no other.



What will you call the first picture of post #37 you yourself in the UK?


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## heypresto

Adidas calls them 'slides' and/or 'sliders': https://www.adidas.co.uk/sliders

Here they are generically called 'plastic slip-ons', but specifically 'slides': The "Ugly" Shoe Trend Every Fashion Person Is Wearing Now


Not being fashion-conscious, I'd probably call them something vague, like 'plastic/rubber sandals.'


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## lingobingo

I see that even mainstream UK retailers such as John Lewis and M&S are now using the term *sliders*.


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## Uncle Jack

sb70012 said:


> What will you call the first picture of post #37 you yourself in the UK?


It looks like the strap is secure enough to stop them flip-flopping, so I'd favour sandals. Since I am unlikely to wear anything like this, I don't need a more precise word.


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