Plimsoll (shoe)
A plimsoll, also spelled plimsole, or pump, is a light sports shoe with a canvas upper and flat rubber sole.
History
United Kingdom
The shoe originated in the United Kingdom, there called a "sand shoe", acquiring the nickname "plimsoll" in the 1870s. This name arose, according to Nicholette Jones's book The Plimsoll Sensation, because the coloured horizontal band joining the upper to the sole resembled the Plimsoll line on a ship's hull, or because, just like the line on a ship, if water got above the line of the rubber sole, the wearer would get wet.In the UK, plimsolls are commonly worn for school indoor physical education. Regional terms are common: In Northern Ireland and Scotland, they may be known as "gutties". The term "sannies" is used in Scotland and features in versions of the song Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice. In London, the home counties, much of the West Midlands, the West Riding of Yorkshire, and northwest of England, they are known as "pumps". In parts of the West Country and Wales, they are known as "daps".