The Word Guy by Rob Kyff

Sometimes you put your foot(wear) in your mouth. Let's look at the origins of some "soxy" and "sole"ful terms.

— Blue stocking

Oddly enough, this derogatory term for an intellectual woman derives from an intellectual man. In 1750s London, a group of upper crust ladies began hosting evening gatherings for men and women to discuss literature. This proved to be such a novel idea that they were soon discussing novels.

At first, the men who attended these intellectual salons wore the formal black silk stockings of the era. But one invitee, Mr. Stillingfleet, owned no such fancy socks, so he attended in informal, blue worsted stockings.

Now Stillingfleet, who was apparently as talented at instilling fashion styles for feet as he was at stilling fleets, set a trend. Soon other male attendees were sporting blue stockings.

So people who wanted to disparage the group's members began calling them "bluestockings." Perhaps because women dominated the coterie, the term came to refer only to brainy females.

— Bobby-soxer

Ah, the days of poodle skirts, ponytails and pompadours or, in the case of 8-year-old Robbie Kyff, crew cuts.

"Bobby-soxer," which first appeared in 1944 as a term for teenage girls, has nothing to do with London policemen, bobble heads or Bobby Darin, but everything to do with the old English verb "bob," meaning "to cut short, crop." (This same verb appears in "bob," a short hairstyle and "bobby pins," used to hold a bob in place.)

During the 1940s and 1950s, teenage girls loved to wear white "bobby sox," socks that were "bobbed" (cut shorter) than conventional hosiery.

Inevitably, people started calling these stylish girls "bobby-soxers." You English majors know that this an example of synecdoche (suh-NEK-duh-kee), the use of a part to denote a whole.

— White-shoe firm

Speaking of synecdoche, this word comes from New York State. During the 1950s, preppy students at Ivy League schools favored white bucks — suede, oxford-style shoes. Many of these upscale collegians ended up working for prestigious, WASP-dominated, Wall Street law firms, which became known as "white-shoe firms," a term that first appeared in 1957.

The moniker soon spread to elite financial castles such as Brown Brothers Harriman and Goldman Sachs as well. In recent years, of course, some of these white-shoe firms have become, well, scuffed.

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254

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