Slipper

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Slipper_and_the_Rose,_The :: Slippers_and_Moccasins :: Slippery_Rock :: Slippery_Rock_University

A slipper, also called houseshoe, is a soft and lightweight indoor type of footwear.

Clothing

The word is recorded in English in 1478, deriving from the much older verb to slip, the notion being of footware that is "slipped" onto the foot. Slippers are frequently made out of soft materials such as felt, terrycloth or soft leather, and may or may not be lined. Some slippers, particularly those meant to be used near pools, bathrooms, or other wet places, are made of plastic or rubber. Slippers generally have thin and flexible soles, with a shallow tread meant only to prevent the wearer from slipping on smooth floors. In contrast, shoes and boots are generally made of canvas, plastic, rubber, or leather, and often have thick soles.

Slippers may be shaped like a shoe (foot inserted through top), or may have no heel, so the foot can be slipped in the back.

The term "slipper" is sometimes used interchangeably with the terms flip-flop and sandal. This is especially true where footwear is not customarily worn indoors; in Hawaii the word "slipper" generally refers to the flip-flop.

Certain breeds of dog have been identified for their superior ability to fetch their owner's slippers, a domestic version of the fetching of shot prey for which hunting dogs have actually been bred by humans.

the modern custom of throwing a slipper sportively after a newly wedded pair leaving the parental house appears to mean that the parents and family friends symbolically renounce their right to the daughter or son in favour of the husband or wife.

Punitive use

A slippering is a metonymical term for a spanking of the buttocks or a beating of the hands using a slipper or (more often, though then it is a euphemism) firmer footwear, especially gym shoes (part of the school uniform; thus often at hand, in sports the same may go for specific footwear), as the proverbial plimsoll, wielded by hand as a disciplinary implement, especially in Commonwealth countries, in the same manner as a paddle.

It is a form of physical punishment, mainly for children at home or at school, as a milder alternative to caning, birching etcetera, though a 'sound dose' can be more painful then it seems, especially if the impacting sole is solid rubber, a material also used for type of paddle or bludgeon. It has also been applied as an informal military spanking by a soldier's comrades, notably in France under the name Savate (meaning footwear, homonymous with French kickboxing).

The analogous word booting (also irrespective of the type of footwear) is rather used for physical discipline given 'hands free' with the boot (or other footwear) on the discipliners foot, so the punishee usually is to submit to the punishment (generally on the posterior) in a low position. The humilitation is still increased if (s)he must do so over the knee, on all four, kneeling or crawling, or by wearing demeaning dress, only underwear or even bare-butt.

Feeling the boots of the lined-up crew has also been used as a naval variation of running the gauntlet, less painful then a whipping (on the back, e.g. with knotted cords) but rather more humiliating.

Homonyms

In hare coursing, a slipper is a person who "slips" or releases dogs to chase the hare. Slippers are registered and trained by the British NCC (National Coursing Club), but coursing is controversial and becoming banned in most countries due to its allegedly inhumane treatment of the hare.
In Dutch, a slipper is an amorous affair which a married person 'slips' into.

Sources and references

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Clothing

Punitive use

Homonyms

Sources and references

See also