# Shoe box label code meaning

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-box-label-code-meaning/988095>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 5, 2023, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-box-label-code-meaning/988095 "2023-08-05T07:07:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-box-label-code-meaning/988095/1 "2023-08-05T07:07:22Z")

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After three years and change, my wife and I finally got to go to Korea to escape Beijing for a few weeks. We’re shopping on the US Army base and encountered something we’ve never seen before. In the kids’ shoe section, the boxes have the usual info: size, style, color. But in square to the upper right of he size is a two-letter code. Three of the codes are TD, UY, and JN. What do they mean? I’m thinking toddler and junior for two of them; no idea for the other. There are a few more codes, too.

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**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-box-label-code-meaning/988095/2 "2023-08-05T13:17:32Z")

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I found a bunch of links, such as [What Does TD Mean in Shoes? (Read Before You BUY) - Magic of Clothes](https://www.magicofclothes.com/td-in-shoes/), which claim that you are right about TD meaning toddler. I haven’t found anything that suggests what UY or JN means.

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**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-box-label-code-meaning/988095/3 "2023-08-05T15:12:08Z")

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U in shoe code usually means “unisex” and Y (I’m guessing) means “youth”.

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**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-box-label-code-meaning/988095/4 "2023-08-06T00:26:30Z")

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Thanks to you both!