# slipper or sandal or flip-flops



## Karen123456

Where I live, flip flops are called slippers. Do native speakers also called them slippers?

Thanks.


Moderator's note:
Here is another thread on the same topic: 
Slippers Vs Flip-flops ? (also: beach slippers vs thongs)
Cagey, moderator


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## owlman5

I've never heard anybody call flip-flops "slippers" in my part of the world.


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## DonnyB

I wouldn't no.  I don't think I've ever come across them being called anything other than flip-flops.  

_[cross-posted with owlman]_


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## PaulQ

*These are flip-flops: *(Casual footwear for hot days.)








*These are slippers: *(Casual footwear for indoors.)






In searching, I see that some people do use "slippers" when they mean "flip-flops" - this probably comes (wrongly) from another name for "flip-flops" which is "slip-ons"


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## RM1(SS)

I would call flip-flops sandals, not slippers.


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## natkretep

_Slippers_ are _flip-flops_ in Singapore. (Karen, you'd know that. We're only a stone's throw away.) The first reference to _flip-flop _in the Oxford English Dictionary is 1958, and I reckon the use of _slippers_ in Malaysia/Singapore pre-date that. Australians often call them _thongs_.


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## Englishmypassion

And what were "flip flops" called before 1958, Nat? 1958 is is so recent.


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## joanvillafane

We used to call them "thongs" here, too.  And what happens when one parent says "flip-flops" and the other parent says "thongs"?
The child calls them "fling-flongs."  (a term still alive in our family circle!)


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## natkretep

Well, we called them _slippers_. They were probably not known in the UK then. _Thong_ would still have been available, I suppose.


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## Glenfarclas

I imagine that the term "thongs" is going rapidly out of style due to the underwear style that goes by that name.

To keep on topic, I'll say that it would never have occurred to me that anybody could consider flip-flops (i.e. thongs) and _slippers_ to be the same thing.


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## JustKate

Englishmypassion said:


> And what were "flip flops" called before 1958, Nat? 1958 is is so recent.


I don't know that such footwear was known much before the 1950s - it wasn't completely unfamiliar, but it was not commonly worn and therefore not a common topic of conversation. My family always called them "zories" (from the Japanese _zori_, or so the Online Etymology Dictionary tells me), but while that word entered English in the 19th century, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, it was not well known until the 1950s and I think its use might have been quite limited and regional. Many people my age (50s) and older have never heard it.

_(Edit: Its, not it's, Kate...)_


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## joanvillafane

Zories! Yes! how could I have forgotten. Thanks for activating the little grey cells, JustKate.  We used it in the 50s and 60s.


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## Myridon

Glenfarclas said:


> I imagine that the term "thongs" is going rapidly out of style due to the underwear style that goes by that name.
> 
> To keep on topic, I'll say that it would never have occurred to me that anybody could consider flip-flops (i.e. thongs) and _slippers_ to be the same thing.


People my age in this part of the country grew up calling them both "flip-flops" and "thongs."  This has caused much laughter between my sister-in-law (thongs - shoes) and my nieces (thongs - sexy underwear) in the last 15 years or so (also the difference in "hook-up with someone").
Flip-flops can be used for the same purposes as slippers (to wear casually around the house), but not the reverse (to outside and especially in wet places such as the locker room shower or the beach).  That reminds me that flip-flops are sometimes called "shower shoes" in relation to gyms.
Never heard of zories but I know some older people who call them  "Jap flaps."


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## Parla

> I would call flip-flops sandals, not slippers.


 They're a _kind_ of sandal. Yes, as some have mentioned, also formerly called zoris.


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## Andygc

JustKate said:


> I don't know that such footwear was known much before the 1950s


In the western world, perhaps, but in the eastern world I suspect it has been known for a very long time indeed - but not made of brightly-coloured synthetic rubber. No doubt the English-speaking officials of the East India Company had an anglicized word for the earlier form of flip-flop.


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## Copyright

Myridon said:


> PThat reminds me that flip-flops are sometimes called "shower shoes" in relation to gyms.


And the Marines.

I've not heard slippers, but have heard thongs and zoris (popular for about a week where I lived, and just among girls).


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## JustKate

Andygc said:


> In the western world, perhaps, but in the eastern world I suspect it has been known for a very long time indeed - but not made of brightly-coloured synthetic rubber. No doubt the English-speaking officials of the East India Company had an anglicized word for the earlier form of flip-flop.


Yes, that's of course what I meant. I'm sorry if I was unclear. What I was trying to say is that if the footwear wasn't well-known among people whose first language is English, there wouldn't be an English word for it.


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## stephenlearner

PaulQ said:


> *These are flip-flops: *(Casual footwear for hot days.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *These are slippers: *(Casual footwear for indoors.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In searching, I see that some people do use "slippers" when they mean "flip-flops" - this probably comes (wrongly) from another name for "flip-flops" which is "slip-ons"



A  slipper is that it can easily be slipped onto the foot. One can often put them on and take them off without touching them with the hands at all.

In my opinion, the one at the bottom is a shoe, not a slipper. I think a slipper does not have the back part for the heel.

The flip-flops do not have the back part for the heels. You can slip them onto the feet. Isn't it a kind of slipper?


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## Englishmypassion

stephenlearner said:


> The flip-flops do not have the back part for the heels. You can slip them *onto* the feet.



That's why they are also called slip-ons.

You can slip your feet into slippers too, provided they don't fit too tightly.


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## Keith Bradford

stephenlearner said:


> ...
> 
> In my opinion, the one at the bottom is a shoe, not a slipper. I think a slipper does not have the back part for the heel.
> The flip-flops do not have the back part for the heels. You can slip them onto the feet. Isn't it a kind of slipper?



This is not British usage.  The slipper was originally a light dancing-shoe.  Nowadays it's a soft indoor shoe, with or without an upstanding heel.

The earlier form of the thong/flip-flop goes back to ancient Egypt. Its distinguishing feaure is the post or loop between the first two toes. Linda O'Keeffe (in _Shoes_, Workman Publishing, New York 1996) classifies them as *sandals*.


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## Englishmypassion

But yes, in India most people call flip flops "slippers" (if they use the English name, which they often do) and much fewer people know the term "flip flops". So maybe that qualifies for Indianism, or maybe Asianism, if you like that.


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## natkretep

Englishmypassion said:


> But yes, in India most people call flip flops "slippers" (if they use the English name, which they often do) and much fewer people know the term "flip flops". So maybe that qualifies for Indianism.


I can also confirm that this is the term used in Singapore and Malaysia. Therefore, not exclusive to Indian English.


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## You little ripper!

New Zealanders call them 'jandals' (Japanese sandals).


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## Englishmypassion

natkretep said:


> I can also confirm that this is the term used in Singapore and Malaysia. Therefore, not exclusive to Indian English.



Thanks a lot. That's why I also added "Asianism". 

By the way, do as many people in Malaysia know the term " flip flops" for them?

Thanks.


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## Englishmypassion

In Hindi, flip flops are called chappals, which has been accepted by the OALD as an Indian English word.


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## stephenlearner

New discussion has been added to a previous thread. Cagey, moderator 


Hi,

What are these? Are they sandals? Are they slippers? Or are they flip-flops?

I think the first pair looks like flip-flops.

Wikipedia says sandals expose one's upper part of the feet. According to this, the second and third pair are sandals. But it also says sandals have straps, which the second and third pair do not have. Oh, maybe you would say the second pair has straps.

What do you think?

Thanks a lot.


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## owlman5

I don't see any slippers up there.  I'd say that the first two pictures are pictures of flip flops.  I'd say that the last picture is a picture of sandals.


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## stephenlearner

Thank you very much.


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## ewie

I've always thought _flip-flops_ was a very silly word.  From now on I shall call them _fling-flongs_


joanvillafane said:


> We used to call them "thongs" here, too.  And what happens when one parent says "flip-flops" and the other parent says "thongs"?
> The child calls them "fling-flongs."  (a term still alive in our family circle!)


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## ewie

I agree 100% with Mr Owl.  For me the difference between _flip-flops_ and _sandals_ is mainly what they're made of and used for: flip-flops are made of rubber or plastic and can be got wet; sandals are made of leather, canvas or some other fabric and shouldn't really be got wet.

(And _slippers_ are practically the opposite of both: flip-flops and sandals keep your feet cool; slippers keep them warm.)


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## stephenlearner

Wikipedia says about flip-flops: They consist of a flat sole held loosely on the foot by a Y-shaped strap or thong that passes between the* first and second toes *and around both sides of the foot.

The first and second pair do not fit this definition.


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## ewie

I've known people who made that distinction
For them only these are _flip-flops_





A lot of people don't make that distinction, though.


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## owlman5

The thing that distinguishes flip flops for me, Stephen, is the flapping sound they make against the bottom of your feet as you walk.  From what I can tell, the first two pairs would make that sound if you wore them and walked somewhere.

Before the annoying "flip flops" came into the language, people called the footwear in Ewie's last post "thongs"*.  These days, that word seems to be reserved for skimpy drawers or swimming-suit bottoms that are wedged in the wearer's butt-crack. 

*At least they did so in my part of the world.


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## NightRider-Learner

ewie said:


> I've known people who made that distinction
> For them only these are _flip-flops_
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A lot of people don't make that distinction, though.




 I call these slippers.


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## NightRider-Learner

PaulQ said:


> *These are slippers: *(Casual footwear for indoors.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> /QUOTE]



Native speakers call  these slippers ? (These are ladies winter footwear in my part of world.)


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## NightRider-Learner

PaulQ said:


> *These are slippers: *(Casual footwear for indoors.)



Hello Native speakers, Would you really call these slippers?



PaulQ said:


> *These are flip-flops: *(Casual footwear for hot days.)



I would call slippers or flip-flops to these.


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## owlman5

That's okay, NRL.  Apparently, Indians, Malays, and others have their own English names for footwear that diverge a little from what I'm accustomed to hearing in the U.S.


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## Copyright

NightRider-Learner said:


> Hello Native speakers, Would you really call these slippers?


If they're worn exclusively in the house, they would be slippers – in fact, that was my first thought on seeing them.


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## Englishmypassion

Hello NightRider,
Yes, most native speakers really call them slippers (those covering the front part of feet,  shown in the pics) and flip-flops (the ones that don't cover feet), as they have said above.
Your post confirms my belief that most Indians call flip-flops "slippers". 
Thanks.


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## owlman5

NightRider-Learner said:


> Native speakers call these slippers ? (These are ladies winter footwear in my part of world.)


Yes.  I suppose "slippers" comes from the fact that you slip them on your feet.  "Ladies winter footwear" sounds like something I'd expect to read in a catalog.  It's certainly not an ordinary term for slippers in my part of the world.

I'm a little surprised that you're so astonished by the idea that people in the U.S. and the U.K. have their own terms for footwear.  I'm never surprised to hear that people in India or Asia have come up with their own favorite terms for ordinary objects.  After all, we're thousands of miles apart and we live in different cultures.


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## NightRider-Learner

Englishmypassion said:


> Hello NightRider,
> Yes, most native speakers really call them slippers (those covering the front part of feet,  shown in the pics) and flip-flops (the ones that don't cover feet), as they have said above.
> Your post confirms my belief that most Indians call flip-flops "slippers".
> Thanks.



What would you call closed ones in the picture?


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## NightRider-Learner

owlman5 said:


> Yes.  I suppose "slippers" comes from the fact that you slip them on your feet.  "Ladies winter footwear" sounds like something I'd expect to read in a catalog.  It's certainly not an ordinary term for slippers in my part of the world.



We consider them as "Ladies winter footwear" but call shoes in general.

But it is great to knowing differences between us.


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## NightRider-Learner

Copyright said:


> If they're worn exclusively in the house, they would be slippers – in fact, that was my first thought on seeing them.



In general we also call slippers which we wear at home ( bathroom slippers ).

filp-flops is new for me. But I would interchange both from now on.

But closed ones is actually different, it is very strange for me to call them slippers( I can call them shoes but not slippers).


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## Englishmypassion

NightRider-Learner said:


> I call these slippers.



This Indian likes to call them flip-flops, even if I'm called a black sheep by most of my compatriots.


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## Englishmypassion

NightRider-Learner said:


> What would you call closed ones in the picture?



I, too, would call them slippers.


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## RedwoodGrove

NightRider-Learner said:


> But closed ones is actually different, it is very strange for me to call them slippers( I can call them shoes but not slippers).


Agreed. By definition a slipper is something you slip on your feet with the aid of your hand. However, if you google-image men's slippers it seems that the majority of slippers for sale have the back part around the heel. Perhaps the actual slip-on house slipper is going out of style, at least among men.


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## owlman5

To me, that men's slipper you just described still slips on.  If you don't have to lace the thing or pull it on like a boot, then "slipper" makes sense to me.  Boat shoes and moccasins generally slip on, but I don't call them "slippers" because they have other ordinary names in U.S. English.


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## RedwoodGrove

owlman5 said:


> To me, that men's slipper you just described still slips on.  If you don't have to lace the thing or pull it on like a boot, then "slipper" makes sense to me.  Boat shoes and moccasins generally slip on, but I don't call them "slippers" because they have other ordinary names in U.S. English.


Well, my daughter used to turn all of her shoes into slip-ons (she would flatten the heel) so I can see your point.


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## Keith Bradford

An outdoor shoe with no laces is a *slip-on*.
If the indoor _*slipper *_has an upstand at the heel when you buy it, it soon doesn't after having been worn a few times.  Anyway, I thought they were called slippers because they help you to fall downstairs with very little effort.

[Cross-posted.]


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## stephenlearner

Slippers keep your feet warm, as someone said before. Sandals or flip-flops keep your feet cool.
What is this pair? They are worn in winter, made of cotton, so they seem like slippers, but they expose the toes.
http://d6.yihaodianimg.com/N07/M09/CE/7E/CgQI0FQ8qVWALPVgAAapicf9gK803900.jpg


Edited to replace link to website with link to image. Cagey, moderator


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## Andygc

I call those "mules".


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