The shoe thread has me wondering, what do you call the type of shoes

[gandpsmommy]

you wear when playing sports or being active? Do you call them athletic shoes, tennis shoes, sneakers, something else? I'm just curious. Also, where are you from? I wonder if there are typical names for them in different geographical regions.

 

 

I grew up in Ohio, and my family always called them tennis shoes. But when I got older I started thinking about the fact that none of us played tennis and maybe athletic shoes would be a better name! Old habits die hard, though. I still call them tennis shoes. Actually in the region where I grew up, it was pronounced more like "tenna" shoes than tennis shoes.

[readwithem]

We call them tennis shoes as well. In Australia they are called "runners" - neither fits what we do when wearing them :)

[elegantlion]

They're tennis shoes to me. I grew up in Missouri.

[Rebecca in GA]

Sneaks. As in "sneakers." But for a really weird reason.

 

A former pro baseball player moved into our town when he retired years ago and became friends with a friend of ours. Our friend told us a hilarious story of how his sweaty workout shoes made their way under his wife's car seat, where they were the source of a mysterious and apparently awful smell for awhile (think Georgia in the summertime). When they were finally discovered, she gave him the what-for about his stinky "sneaks" and our friend's mimicking of her had us rolling.

 

It tickled DH and me so much that we kept joking around about our "sneaks," and the name just stuck.

 

Before that, I called them tennis shoes. I grew up in Georgia and my folks are from this area as well, and that's what we called them growing up.

[jkwynn]

Tennis shoes...from Alabama.

[JFSinIL]

Sneakers. In California growing up we called them tennis shoes.

[Lorna in the boonies]

I have always called them tennis shoes. (Texas roots and Texas now, but a military upbringing.)

[Krista in LA]

In Iowa and Ohio, we called them tennies. Not tennis shoes, just tennies. When we moved to PA, they called them sneakers and that's what I still call them.

[TraceyS/FL]

Tennis shoes - another CA girl here.... still call them that after moving to FL!

[Rose in BC]

We call them tennis shoes as well. In Australia they are called "runners" - neither fits what we do when wearing them :)

 

And we're not Australian, rather Canadian. (And they're runners regardless of whether running is the actual activity taking place or not.)

[Sanguine]

I'm in western Canada.

[Guest Lorna]

We call them 'trainers' in Scotland; 'gym shoes' or 'pumps' if the school makes you wear them!

[Gwen in TX]

I usually call them tennis shoes or sneakers or tennies. (VA to OH to RI to PA to TX to GA to TX).

 

I wish I could remember where I heard the term "trainers" - might have been a travel book (where someone was saying, wear your trainers for walking on vacation there).

[Marie in Oh]

I grew up in Arizona. I had never heard sneakers til I met a girl from PA.

 

Sneakers makes me laugh! :lol:

[Closeacademy]

Tennis shoes (IN and WI).

[Kim in Appalachia]

I never knew there was another name for them till we moved south. I think they call them gym shoes here.

[mommaduck]

I've lived all over. In SC we called them sneakers, in IL we called them tennis shoes or tennies, now we are in PA...I believe they say sneakers here, but my kids are already used to calling them tennis shoes.

[Janet in Toronto]

Running shoes or runners here too...Grew up in Ottawa, Canada.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Gym shoes. Born and raised in western-'burbs of the Chicago area. Tennis shoes were worn by North Shore people or transferees :).

[Rebecca in TN]

My family calls them tennis shoes....in GA and TN.

[KidsHappen]

Actually in the region where I grew up, it was pronounced more like "tenna" shoes than tennis shoes.

 

We called them something similar - "tenny" shoes. My dh is from a totally different background and also calls them that. Of course, that's what my dc call them as well. My guess is it is from people being lazy about pronouncing the "s" sound.

[Jenny in Atl]

As a kid I called them sneakers, but as an adult I've come to call them tennis shoes. Could be a regional thing, I was in the North as a kid and in the South from age 13 till present. :confused:

[st_claire]

We call generic shoes like this "sneakers", but we also have specific ones for specific sports, like dh has "running shoes" for the treadmill. They are built for, and only used for, running. We are from Ontario.

[RoughCollie]

When I was a kid, we called them tennis shoes. Running hadn't come into vogue yet, and most people I knew called them Keds, sneakers, or tennis shoes.

 

When I was a runner, I called them running shoes.

 

Now I call them sneakers, no matter what they are used for. Mostly I call them missing because the darned dog keeps taking them outside whenever I leave them under my desk.

[OnEaglesWings]

Those are tennis shoes regardless of the sport! I'm from Chicago.

 

~Kim

[yslek]

"Tennis shoes" and "sneakers." (WA)

 

Dh calls the ones he runs in "running shoes."

 

Kelsy

[Tracey in TX]

sneakers (tennis shoes in IL), but each my children refer to them by specific name "indoor shoes", "Shox", "blue Italy shoes", etc... no matter what you teach, the quirkiness creeps out :)

[Pajama Mama]

*I* call them sneakers but here in Pittsburgh they call them tenners(tennis shoes). I feel like I'm in another world here:tenners(sneakers),gumbands(rubberbands),pop(soda),buggy(shopping cart)... The list is endless:tongue_smilie:

[pmegan]

Sneakers. I call tennis shoes something very specific: those white canvas Keds things that were popular in the 80's. They got dirty so quickly and then looked awful! Nike, Reebok, New Balance, etc type shoes are sneakers to me.

[pamjk]

Grew up in Mass. and only called them sneakers. Now I'm in NC and it seems everyone here says tennis shoes. Weird, cuz I haven't met anyone here who actually plays tennis! :lol:

[Elisabeth in IL]

Tennis shoes.

[Plaid Dad]

Sneakers. I grew up on Long Island (NY Metro area).

[Claire]

I think athletic shoe is the best description. It wasn't until my dd started playing tennis that I discovered regular "tennis" shoes aren't what's needed for tennis. They don't provide enough protection or support. We have to buy "court" shoes for her tennis playing, and "trainers" for her running. Nowadays I think of "tennis shoes" as just white cloth shoes with no support or protection that don't mark up gyms or courts.

[Robyn]

Sneakers in Mass. I've never heard them called anything else here.

[Unicorn.]

Tennis shoes here, but pronounced more like Tenna shoes. Growing up, Tennie shoes occasionally. 100% Texan!

[Sahamamama]

if they are plain and simple shoes to wear for casual walking/loafing. For example, Reebok Princess shoes are "sneakers."

 

We call the shoes we use for serious walking our "walking shoes." These have to be sturdier and specifically designed for walking/supporting the foot through repeated shock. These are reserved only for long periods of walking, hiking, lawn mowing (which I am NOT going to do this summer, no I am NOT). :glare:

 

If we ran, we would probably call the shoes "running shoes." But, alas, if I ran, in the shape I am in, I would probably hurt something.

 

Hubby is from California, I am from (and in) New Jersey. I don't think I've ever called sneakers "tennis shoes," but my mother does. Actually, she uses these terms interchangeably, so far as I can discern. She grew up in New Jersey, but 70-odd years ago, and in the country.

[Guest]

Tennis shoes or tennie sneaks. I grew up in New Mexico but have lived in TX since 1992.

[dragons in the flower bed]

Also, where are you from?

 

I grew up on Long Island, and I have always known these as sneakers.

[Laura Corin]

Lightweight ones are called plimsolls, or in my part of the country, daps.

 

Laura