Ketchikan tennis shoe
n.— «One of natural wool’s greatest attributes is one of its greatest weaknesses: It absorbs moisture without losing insulating value. This makes it perfect for something like socks in rubber boots or, as they are called in Southeast, “Ketchikan tennis shoes.”» —“Wool vs. synthetics” by Craig Medred Anchorage Daily News (Alaska) Jan. 13, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The new Downton Abbey movie is a luscious treat for fans of the public-television period piece, but how accurate is the script when it comes to the vocabulary of the early 20th century? It may be jarring to hear the word swag, but it was already at...
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...