Flip-flops - online puzzles

Flip-flops are a type of sandal, typically worn as a form of casual wear. They consist of a flat sole held loosely on the foot by a Y-shaped strap known as a toe thong that passes between the first and second toes and around both sides of the foot or can be a hard base with a strap across all the toes (these can also be called sliders).

This style of footwear has been worn by the people of many cultures throughout the world, originating as early as the ancient Egyptians in 1,500 B.C.

In the United States the flip-flop descends from the Japanese zōri, which became popular after World War II as soldiers brought them back from Japan. They became popular unisex summer footwear starting in the 1960s.

Etymology

The term flip-flop has been used in American and British English since the 1960s to describe the thong or no- heel - strap sandal. It is an onomatopoeia of the sound made by the sandals when walking in them. They are called thongs (sometimes pluggers) in Australia, jandals (originally a trademarked name derived from "Japanese sandals") in New Zealand, slops or “visplakkies” in South Africa and Zimbabwe, and tsinelas or step-in in the Philippines ( or, in some Visayan localities, "smagol", from the word smuggled).

This footwear has a number of other names around the world. The Japanese wear similarly designed, traditional straw sandals known as zōri. Throughout the world, they are known by a variety of other names, including dép tông or dép xỏ ngón in Vietnam, chinelos in Brazil, japonki in Poland, dacas in Somalia, sayonares (σαγιονάρες) in Greece, slippers in Hawaii, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and the Netherlands, infradito in Italy, djapanki (джапанки) in Bulgaria," charlie wote" in Ghana, "japanke" in Croatia and vietnamki in Russia and Ukraine, yezenes in Latvia.