Flip-flops are the cheap rubber and webbing shoes.
Sandals are a little more “dressy” and are probably made with leather or leather-like material.
Born 1969, grew up in Florida.
Yup, me too.
And can someone tell me why I see men wearing shower shoes with socks? Young men, who should know better!
Exactly this. Thongs.
In SoCal in the early 60s it was “zoris” ( no “e” in there anywhere folks) or “thongs”. I heard some folks use “go-ahead”, but that was weird. Oriental folks (mostly Japanese in those days) said either “slippers” or “zoris”.
“Flip flops” came later; late 70s or so.
The first time I heard the term “shower shoes” was in the military in the 80s and I had no clue what they were talking about.
Flip-flops. Though when I was a kid, my friends and I used ‘sandals’ and ‘flip-flops’ interchangeably. And one family used ‘zoris’; they were in the Foreign Service and away half the time, usually in Europe; I always assumed they picked the term up somewhere else in the world.
Flipflops, or occasionally sandals. I’ve heard them called thongs, though not all that often. I tend to think of sandals as leather (and not thong-style).
I’ve never heard the term “pool shoes” before either, though I have heard of swim shoes. That’s what I’d assume “pool shoes” referred to.
I have heard the term “shower shoes” once or twice but didn’t think what was meant. If I’d thought about it I’d probably have assumed something like what Skywatcher linked to.
And another use for flipflips / thongs / whatever you call them!
There’s one other person! Cool!
I had to google. If you believe Slate, go-ahead was the original term. I’m checking to see if it was a brand name, but I mostly remember them as cheap generics. Nope. No sign that it was ever a brand name.
Hawaii, late 50s, go-aheads.
You need to go back to 1961 or so and google thongs. Then I bet the picture of cheap rubber flip flops would come up!
Once thong underwear became trendy, most people I know started calling them flip flops.
Back in the 20th century, we called them thongs. Now, they’re flip-flops.
Mostly we called them thongs, but I also heard jap slaps. We didn’t know any better.
In my house we called them slippers or flip flops. Thankfully, a couple of years ago I read an article on why they are** bad **for your feet, so I will **NEVER **wear them, except maybe for a few seconds to get from the house to the pool.
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/news/a39188/flip-flops-are-bad-for-you/
Chanclas or sandals.
Northwest Illinois, early 1960’s. Thongs. (and we called windbreakers Blast Jackets)
I have heard them referred to as “flip flops”.
In my youth I called them thongs or sandals. Come tho think of it, Mother called them thongs the Summer she didn’t buy me tennis shoes because I would need larger shoes for school.
As an adult, I make an effort to not speak of them.