I think I have discovered another interesting difference between American English and British English. Emma Cossey of Shoewawa refers to simple canvas sneakers as “pumps”. I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure of the exact definition of “pumps” and I think it’s a rather goofy name for a shoe. What, exactly, are we pumping? But I have always thought of it as a dressy daytime shoe with a moderately high heel.
When I select pumps at Endless.com I get high heels, including stilettos and wedges, which I do not think of as “pumps”. I haven’t looked at all 254 pages yet but so far I’ve seen only a few flats or low-heeled shoes but they are somewhat dressy. Most have heels over two inches. Two things they all have in common is that they are dressy, more or less, and they do not have laces so perhaps that’s the definition of “pumps,” at least in the U.S. What do you think?
March 25th, 2010 - 12:31 pm
I thought British English referred to the canvas sneakers as “plimsolls.” Or is that only the imagined-to-be-British-English of Edward Gorey?
I will always think of “pumps” as “women’s closed-toe dress shoes with heels.”
March 25th, 2010 - 2:13 pm
Some of those… no all of those shoes look horribly uncomfortable and impossible to walk in. Why can’t women wear nice sensible steel toed boots instead?
March 25th, 2010 - 6:46 pm
What we think of as a pump, they consider to be a “court shoe.”
I’m up for a slightly broader definition than Fillyjonk’s: I’d allow for a peep-toe, were it reasonably narrow. (However, if the shoe enables someone else to pass judgment on the state of your pedicure, it cannot be a pump in the American sense.)
March 26th, 2010 - 2:56 am
I smell SPAM
March 26th, 2010 - 5:50 am
Spam deleted. That shoe spammer has been a regular nuisance for several weeks.
March 26th, 2010 - 5:51 am
When we hear “court shoe” we think of something you would wear on a basketball court. Funny
May 2nd, 2010 - 9:35 pm
Lynn, I finally got here to read this!
Well it’s right, when I was growing up the canvas plimsoll shoes we wore for gym at school, were also known as pumps. But I haven’t heard this for years!
We actually call sneakers – trainers too!