Definitely “slippahs” or “rubbah slippahs” in Hawaii. If you ask for flip-flops, you’ve outed yourself as a mainlander. And if you ask for zories, you’ll likely be shown traditional straw zori. I’ve never heard it used before or since, but my cousin’s friends from the Philippines called them “poppers”.
Those look like the ones I wear when I’m not wearing the straw zories. I don’t know what brand mine are; Mrs. L.A. bought them for me a few years ago. I bought the similar ones before that from REI.
I think Scott Hawaii had some kind of patent on the design (two my aunts worked for the company and may have told me) until the '80’s or so, because they were the only ones (at leas in Hawaii) that had that particular design. I have a pair that I haven’t used in years, because I haven’t broken them in yet. But, ahhh…once broken in, they’re heaven to walk in compared to regular rubber slippers. The only downside is they’re heavier and takes a bit more effort to walk in.
Also, stay away from the leather topped ones. Your foot slips when they get wet and they absorb foot odor.
Same here, except I had heard the term “zorie” before. Not commonly, but it was a known noun. Was the racist name “J-F?” I haven’t heard that one in decades, and, as it turns out, from my relatives in Texas.
My friends and I also called them “zoris” not flip-flops. This was in the late 50s/early 60s. We were military brats living on-base, so maybe it was because there were people around who had lived in Hawaii and/or Japan.
Pretty much Darren nails it for me. Growing up on the Great Plains, I heard thongs 90+% but after reaching the cities and the rest of the country, flip flops dominate. Although in college I did hear them called “shower shoes” fairly frequently even outside of the dorm. But I have until this thread never heard of a zori.
I just remembered. I recall people calling them rubber zories growing up. These were usually older people who still lived in plantation homes or children who grew up in them. I think my grandparents called them rubber zories, never just zorie or zori. Makes sense since in my mind, proper zori are the traditional straw mat type.
Calling them rubber zories as a youngster would get you laughed at though, at least where I grew up which was in Metro Honolulu. It implied that you were a 'country hick", versus being a 'townie" as we were called by them. Yeah, we were jerks as kids! Still, that was as bad as it got.
That is why one needs to invest in something (wood, leather, rubber …) beyond the cheapest foam sandals if one is going to walk around town or though thorns wearing them. The cheapest foam ones can get torn even in the shower.
Are those waraji-type pure straw sandals that popular? The straw mat type sandals I see around still have a rubber or foam sole.
My kids and I call them zoris after having been stationed in Guam for 5 years. We all have at least four pairs; shower shoes, every day wear, semi-formal, and formal :). I grew up on the border in south Texas, and we called them flip-flops unless they were being thrown (or we were being chased by an angry typically female relative), in which case they were “chankalas.”
50’s kid, San Diego. Zories. Never heard them called anything else by family or friends. No military or Japanese friends or family. But it was San Diego.
Another Navy brat who lived at Wahiawa for a couple of years as well as San Diego–I remember “Zoris” being used as a generic term for flip flop-type footwear.
I haven’t seen waraji zori except as decoration. I don’t remember what type of soles the zori my grandparents had were made of, but since this was the 60’s, I assume rubber.
And if you ask for zories, you’ll likely be shown traditional straw zori. I’ve never heard it used before or since, but my cousin’s friends from the Philippines called them “poppers”.
We call flip-flops sandels because “flip-flops” sounds strange in Japanese.