# Bo-Bo Sneakers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728 "2001-03-04T16:39:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/1 "2001-03-04T16:39:45Z")
Growing up in Philly, the slang for a no-name brand of sneakers was BO-BOs. What did they call’em in your neck of the woods? Also, did anyone ever trademark the name BO-BO for a brand of sneaker? ---
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/2 "2001-03-04T16:45:03Z")
In my neighborhood, they were simply refered to as \_\_\_\_ specials, the blank filled in by whatever the cheapest, lowest-quality bargain store was at the time. Also, $1.99 K-Mart specials was popular… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2001, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/3 "2001-03-04T20:16:14Z")
Here’s a relevant website: [http://www2.roanoke.edu/business/StudentProjects/CorenDapuzzo/Shoes.html](http://www2.roanoke.edu/business/StudentProjects/CorenDapuzzo/Shoes.html) Hard to tell if it’s a brand name or a slang term, but they call sneakers Bo-Bo’s. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/4 "2001-03-05T04:10:31Z")
As seen on [sneakers.pair.com](http://sneakers.pair.com), they had different names around the country: fishheads, bobos, etc. The site’s owner, a man named Charlie, uses the term “Chuck Clones” to refer to them without confusing people, since most of them look similar to the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star®(affectionately known as “Chucks” by their fans.) Ryan W. Mead® ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/5 "2001-03-05T04:21:57Z")
**enolandcooper** Curious about your age. It might be telling. Not that this applies, but JE Lighter, in _Random House Dictionary of American Slang_ says that _bobo_ is a baseball slang term which means a **protege or favorite**. From around 1959 in print. Then, from around 1990 in _Black English_ as a white, authority figure. I don’t propose that any of this applies, only that it existed. ---
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/6 "2001-03-05T13:55:06Z")
I’m 27 from Columbus, OH…and my friends and I have always called “knock-off” shoes “bo-bo’s”, as well. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/7 "2001-03-05T16:53:10Z")
Also grew up in the Philly area (now 27 y.o.). We called generic sneakers “bobos,” but the term usu. referred to a specific style of sneaker: -white canvas low-top sneakers for girls. (definitely NOT Chuck Taylor high-tops) These cost about $5. Avail. at Kmart and the like. Kids bought them for Marching Band practice, some theater productions, some service jobs, etc. Many nurses also wore them. There was also the song (to the Getty gasoline tune): _Bobos–they make your feet feel fine Bobos–they’re just a dollar-ninety-nine_ (or, “they cost a nickel and a dime”; must be inflation, as I see in Wendell’s link that they’re just $29.99) _Bobos–they’re made by hobos_ (or, among less-enlightened suburban kids, “they’re made by homos”) _Da da da da dum, da da dum, da daaa…_ (I forget the rest) ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/8 "2001-03-06T00:13:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toadspittle \* > \*\* There was also the song (to the Getty gasoline tune): > > \*\* They should really start teaching pop-culture references in school. That would be the “Colonel Bogey March,” written in 1914 and immortalized (among other places) in \*Bridge Over the River Kwai." ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/9 "2001-03-06T00:38:36Z")
Buffalo, New York, in the 1970s and 1980s - “Liberty shoes.” The name might have been more appropriate for a World War I era civilian shoe made of wood and burlap, but it’s actually named after Liberty Shoe Store, a now-defunct local chain that sold almost nothing but Keds-like bo-bos. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/10 "2001-03-06T00:56:54Z")
Cleveland, 1980s. All non-name brand shoes were called “Buster Browns”, which I think was actually the name of a real brand. We also had essentially the same song that **toadspittle** mentioned, but with “Bobos” replaced by by “Busters”. ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Matt\_Mason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Major\_Matt\_Mason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Matt_Mason)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/11 "2017-08-21T23:43:25Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > _Bobos–they make your feet feel fine > Bobos–they’re just a dollar-ninety-nine_ > (or, “they cost a nickel and a dime”; must be inflation, as I see in Wendell’s link that they’re just $29.99) > _Bobos–they’re made by hobos_ > (or, among less-enlightened suburban kids, “they’re made by homos”) > _Da da da da dum, da da dum, da daaa…_ > (I forget the rest) So get some Bobos From hobos Today! 😉 Ah, memories. -MMM- ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/12 "2017-08-21T23:50:45Z")
Really? You re-animated a zombie for that? ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/13 "2017-08-22T00:38:02Z")
Bobos were a thing when I was a kid and we totally sang the song Everytime one of our friends got them…we all wore them. No 12 year olds wore designer shoes. And the went well with the tough skin jeans we all wore:smack: you know, the ones with the patches in the knees:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/14 "2017-08-22T01:26:56Z")
Ah, Bobo. Reunited at last. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bo-bo-sneakers/56728/15 "2017-08-22T09:36:30Z")
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