Taken from zoethe

[conuly]

Presidential Flip-flops. Or, as I'm told they used to be called, thongs.

Comments

[wakasplat.livejournal.com]

Do they call thongs flip-flops these days?

Thongs are shoes which mainly attach by a thing that goes in between your big toe and the first one after that, that then goes up through that gap and branches out around the foot. They slip off really easily. There's one really popular kind of thongs that are made out of plastic or other cheap, light materials and are often used at swimming pools.

Then later they started making (or at least popularizing) sandals out of the same light materials, and fastened with Velcro instead of buckles. I was chastised for referring to those as sandals, and told repeatedly they were "flip-flops".

I had no idea that they were now calling thongs flip-flops too.

[conuly]

Yes, they do, because "thong" also refers to a particular type of underwear.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

I still call them thongs. (You can easily differentiate between shoes & underwear by noting that shoes are generally plural, whereas anyone wearing but one thong is either Peg Leg Pete or referring to the underwear version.)