plimsoll [ˈplimsəl,ˈplimsōl/]
noun BRITISH
plural: plimsolls
1 a light rubber-soled canvas shoe, worn especially for sports.
I have a distinct fondness for this word, despite the fact that I can never bring myself to actually say it. There are a lot of British English words that Americans can pick up and use and get away with… plimsoll does not seem to me to be one of them. If you didn’t grow up using this word, it never really fits comfortably into the mouth.
I love it, tho’, because every time I hear it, it reminds me of my very first British friend, Liz. She was here doing a year abroad and had been assigned to the dorm room next to mine. I struck up the friendship with no ulterior motives but as it happened, becoming friends with Liz was my entré into a large and extended circle of Brits, which became my primary social arena for the rest of the many years that I lived in that city.
But back to plimsolls…
This is the story of how a humble sneaker changed my thinking.
“Plimsoll” was my first experience with a British-only English word. Prior to hearing Liz blithely tell me she needed to find her plimsolls, it hadn’t really occurred to me that the shared language of our countries could ever be so far removed from each other. Slang, sure. That varies from region to region even within countries, so I was prepared for the experience of known words being used in unknown ways…
But a whole new, unknown word…? That, I was not expecting.
And I came perilously close to responding to this sudden exposure of my own ignorance by mocking Liz for her word choice. Except (fortunately) understanding bitch-slapped me upside the head just in time…
I had been making assumptions, you see. I had assumed that because I didn’t need to learn a new language to communicate with someone from a different country, that there wasn’t anything else I needed to learn about them, either. Clearly, they must all be just like us, right? So I would be completely justified to expect them all to fit the reality of their lives into my uninformed expectation. (*nod, nod*)
Oh, dear lord...
It was an appalling example of insularity, made (just barely) forgivable only by my youth, inexperience, and the fact that I picked up on it quickly and managed to not make a fool of myself.
But it was a close call…
and a danged good lesson.
“Keep your mouth shut until you’ve walked a mile in those plimsolls”
4 comments:
We have plimsolls in this house, although I have to admit, the word is going out of fashion and pumps are more popular . Plimsolls are slip on canvas shoes worn by kids for PE, once they get laces they are trainers, or sneakers as you might say. As I write in British English, when my books get edited by Americans there are many times that familiar words for me are completely unknown to my editor. Causes some interesting comments and misunderstandings.
Enjoying your A to Z.
As DelFonte says this word is going out of fashion and I haven't really heard it spoken in years. When we were in primary school we tended to have black plimsols for PE and then later on white for tennis. My son had some when first at school but soon graduated to 'trainers' which is what sneakers / sports shoes tend to be called these days. Great A-Z
I've never even heard of a plimsol before. Expanding my vocabulary!
D-
I had noticed that I haven’t heard the word as much lately, but I figured it was because my British friends are mostly male now, and while grown up women might still wear plimsolls, I would suspect not many men do… except maybe at the beach—)
Thanks!
j-
With all the varieties of casual rubber soled shoes out there these days, you’d think the word could be recycled to fit, wouldn’t you?
I am reliably informed that our version of plimsolls are now known as “kicks”, to distinguish them from proper sneaker-sneakers.
That is, of course, this week.
Or possibly last week already… it’s hard to keep up! :-)
a_k
No, there’s not a lot of call for knowing it on this side of the pond, it’s true.
But who knows? It may come in handy sometime when you’re reading!
:-D
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