The thread on “Wearing white after Labor Day” made me wonder–what’s the difference between sneakers and tennis shoes?
About $50 or more.
“Sneakers” is an all-purpose noun that can be used for any type of athletic shoe, whether it be a tennis shoe, a running shoe, a basketball shoe, etc.
Athletic shoes for each sport are made differently, to support the needs of that sport. Running shoes are made to support linear movement. Court shoes (which include tennis shoes or racketball shoes) are made to support lateral movement. Cross-trainers are made for both, but an aficianado of either sport would look at disdain on these. If you are a serious runner, you would never wear a cross-trainer to run in.
Moreover, good athletic shoes, no matter the sport, contain features that cheaper shoes, which ones usually referred to as “sneakers,” do not. They will have either cushioning, motion support, or stability, or a combination. They will have midsoles containing the latest innovations, such as EVA, air bubbles, etc. They will have a good heel cup. Some will have carbon-rubber heels for longer wear. More expensive tennis shoes will have reinforced toe tips for longer wear. Shoes with these expensive additions and features should not be relegated to the scrap heap of “sneakers.” Sneakers can be used to bum around in, not participate in any serious way in any sport.
Regional dialect, I’ll say!
Sneakers come from the British, sneaks, attested to in print in 1862. They had canvas tops and india rubber soles. The earliest use said that women in prison(band name) called them that, as the guards wore them, evidently implying that they(the guards) couldn’t be heard when approaching in this type of shoe.
Tennis shoe appears in 1886 as a sports version of the same shoe.
Sneakers appear in US English about 1895, and had the same supposed meaning, that one could “sneak around” in them.
To use “sneakers” to refer to the state-of-the art running shoes or tennis shoes is to ignore the great R&D of the past two decades. Then, yes sneakers were running shoes, and runners got injured. To the drawing boards went the experts and came up with all sorts of features to protect the runner or give him extra cushioning. Tennis adapted these innovations and they are also featured in the better tennis shoes.
Running shoes have specialized even further. There are now “racing flats” (very lightweight, but with good protection) and “trail runners” (running shoes made for running on the trails.
To call these shoes “sneakers” is an insult to them.