Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 20:58:24 -0500

From: Benjamin Barrett Gogaku[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]GNN.COM

Subject: Re: sneakers



Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 17:10:22 -0700

From: POLSKY ELLEN S Ellen.Polsky[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]COLORADO.EDU

Sender: American Dialect Society ADS-L[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UGA.CC.UGA.EDU



Is the "sneaker"-"tennis shoe" distinction purely regional? Do some

people use both with a different meaning attached to each? I come from

Phila., and I used to use only the term "sneaker", but out here in

Boulder, Colorado, it seems that "tennis shoe" is used exclusively. Any

insight?



I'm from Seattle, and "sneaker" was a word used fifteen years or more ago

and sounds old-fashioned to me. With the big boom in super designed

athletic shoes to everyday people, "tennis" tends to now mean shoes for

tennis and I don't think I would feel comfortable using that term anymore

either.



yoroshiku

Benjamin Barrett