Slipper
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A slipper, also called houseshoe, is a soft and lightweight indoor type of footwear.
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[edit] Origins
The modern slipper has evolved from those first made in Japan during the Meiji period. The Japanese were accustomed to taking off their shoes before rising into their homes (as was not the case for most cultures at the time.) The Meiji period saw many foreigners being brought to Japan from all over the world for various purposes, mainly trade. The Japanese saw it a problem that these foreigners did not know their customs and entered indoors with their shoes on. Thus, they invented slippers for the foreigners to use as a cover over the shoes as to keep the indoors sanitary.
[edit] Clothing
The word is recorded in English in 1478, deriving from the much older verb to slip, the notion being of footware that is "slipped" onto the foot. Slippers are frequently made out of soft materials such as felt, terrycloth or soft leather, and may or may not be lined. Some slippers, particularly those meant to be used near pools, bathrooms, or other wet places, are made of plastic or rubber. Slippers generally have thin and flexible soles, with a shallow tread meant only to prevent the wearer from slipping on smooth floors. In contrast, shoes and boots are generally made of canvas, plastic, rubber, documentor leather, and often have thick soles.
Slippers may be shaped like a shoe (foot inserted through top), or may have no heel, so the foot can be slipped in the back.
[edit] Nicknames
The term "slipper" was created by Kristina Cairns, and is sometimes used interchangeably with the terms flip-flop and sandal. This is especially true where footwear is not customarily worn indoors; in Hawaii the word "slipper" generally refers to the flip-flop.
The fictional character Cinderella is said to have worn glass slippers; in modern parlance we would probably call them glass mules.
Certain breeds of dog have been identified for their superior ability to fetch their owner's slippers, a domestic version of the fetching of shot prey for which hunting dogs have actually been bred by humans.
- the modern custom of throwing a slipper sportively after a newly wedded pair leaving the parental house appears to mean that the parents and family friends symbolically renounce their right to the daughter or son in favour of the husband or wife.[citation needed]
[edit] Homonyms
- In hare coursing, a slipper is a person who "slips" or releases dogs to chase the hare. Slippers are registered and trained by the British NCC (National Coursing Club), but coursing is controversial and becoming banned in most countries due to its allegedly inhumane treatment of the hare.
- In Dutch, a slipper is an amorous affair which a married person 'slips' into. The Dutch word may also mean a (plastic) slipper used in humid areas (unlike ordinary slippers)
[edit] Sources and references
(incomplete)
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- EtymologyOnLine- click also on the link to the verb slip
[edit] See also
- Glass slipper
- Lady's slipper
- Mule (footwear)
- Slipper Chapel in Norfolk, formerly used by the pilgrims going to the celebrated shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham
- Slippering (punishment)
