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Jan 16, 2023
This week’s themeShoes This week’s words suede-shoed saboteur well-heeled sneakernet boot-faced 
Image: Imgflip Previous week’s theme There’s a word for it 
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu GargThere was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do. She gave them some broth without any bread; And whipped them all soundly and put them to bed. Don’t judge someone until you have lived in her shoe, but still, that old woman wasn’t very nice to the kids. Fortunately, that nursery rhyme is a work of fiction, though it is still a good argument for a strong social safety net. Also, for easily available birth control. Why did she choose to live in a shoe? As if she had a choice. Oh, you don’t want to know what these rhymesters make their characters go through for the sake of a mere rhyme! If only the old woman lived in modern times she could have traded her house for a hotel (Pennsylvania), a church (Taiwan), or a children’s playhouse (Mumbai). Maybe even a shoebox (Barcelona). As you can tell, shoes are on our mind. All words this week have their origins in shoes, sometimes obvious, sometimes not. You may have to look inside. suede-shoed
PRONUNCIATION:
(SWAYD-shood)
MEANING:
adjective: Affecting smartness and respectability.
ETYMOLOGY:
From the perceived preference of suede shoes by people supposedly smart
and respectable. From suede (a soft leather), from French gants de Suède
(Swedish gloves). Later the word suede was applied to the material,
instead of the country. Earliest documented use: 1936. Also see white-shoe.
USAGE:
“‘We expect a lot of suede-shoed lobbyists from Washington to come in
and try to convince the people of Florida that they need casinos,’
Sowinski said.” John Kennedy; Prominent Consultant Hired to Run Casino Campaign; Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida); Jun 28, 1994. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Be kind to thy father, for when thou wert young, / Who loved thee so fondly
as he? / He caught the first accents that fell from thy tongue, / And
joined in thy innocent glee. -Margaret Courtney, poet (1822-1862)
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