Cold weather in house, and I switched to last year’s muffies. Been doing a water-change in the marine tank, so I’m up and down stairs—in the muffies—over about 3 days.
Began having the old pain again, finally so bad I took Advil (which I don’t like to take when I’m working)—and, in an “I could’ve had a V-8” moment—I realized ‘muffies!’.
Went and changed to the sandals, pain began to go, and it wasn’t the Advil. Went too fast.
That evening I ordered, yes, a pair of Vionic/Orthaheel muffies. Leopard print, why not?
Amazing. Hurt like hell. Then didn’t. The lower back is a piece of engineering that only just allows us to stand upright, but in very few individuals is it totally symmetrical. People are born with one leg slightly short, or grow up with a hip pitch that’s not going to be their friend when they’re older…women wearing these pigeon-toed platform heels that make most women walk bent over as if they were wearing work boots through mud…oh, that’s going to hurt, if this trend doesn’t head back to good posture and straight-forward feet before too many more years…
At any rate, I am now pain free again, but my toes are chilling, and I could wear street shoes, but I’m too lazy…it’s going to be 38 here tonight.
one of the women who was in our beginners’ ballroom dance class wore heels that had to be 5″ high, with 2 inch platform soles, and I just couldn’t figure out how her feet fit into those things, much less how she could walk, let alone dance…..
I don’t buy shoes for looks, but then, I’ve never been a shoe fanatic…..I buy what I can afford and what’s comfortable and doesn’t give me pain. I will admit my shoes are purchased at Walmart, but I have orthotic insoles that fit nicely into those shoes and so eliminate the problems that might be caused by improper insoles from the manufacturer.
One benefit of being in kiddie sizes – heels aren’t a thing. (Something like a 4E in women’s shoes, if they even existed. About a 3 1/2 widish in ‘youth’ – I’m in either flipflops or tennies all the time I’m not actually barefoot.)
Every few years PBS shows the ballroom dance championships, which I’ll sometimes watch the way I’ll watch gymnastics–appreciation for what the human body is capable of. But I always see the ladies in heels like that! And they seem to be “solid”.
The kind they wear for square dancing, those I’d like to be able to get. You could wear them for ballroom dancing, too., but they’re not as ‘stylish’ as they want for TV (not spike heels, for one thing, but colors and fabrics and sequins, those you can get).
the shoes that the ladies wear, even if they’ve got heels, aren’t stiff, because the foot has to bend when she’s stepping backward, especially in dances like Viennese waltz, or rumba, or a regular waltz. My dance partner’s heels are probably 2 inches, maybe 2-1/2″. Even she winced when she saw that other lady with the 5″ spikes…..yeesh!
My dancing shoes are very thin soled, look almost like the fabric side of a velcro pad, and very flexible, but then, I bought shoes made specially for ballroom dancing. I’m sure the competitive dancers have much better shoes than mine, which were just a little over $100 for the pair.
My knockabout shoes are from Walmart, Starter brand (which used to be a very good quality back in the 1960s and 70s when I first came across them), about $20.00. I can cut the insole, insert my orthotic, and it’s just fine…although with a wider shoe, I don’t need to cut the insole.
Glad that you are feeling pain free. It’s funny how your post really brought home the assumptions on common things that are differences between an American English speaker and a British one in so that there so many things that I just didn’t know – “muffies”, “V-8 moment”, “Advil”, “Vionic”. Thank goodness for search engines these days to explain some of them!
“Two peoples divided by a language.”
p.s. Does anyone have the quote about English mugging other languages and riffling their pockets for words? I want that! 😉
The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary. –James Nicoll
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Nicoll
My great thanks, Sir. Filed.
Woolly socks inside your sandals. Not terribly fashion forward but who cares?
I would always laugh at girls in college who wore heels and walked with their knees constantly bent and hunched forward. Apparently they never had ballet classes — and never learned to tuck their bottom under which helps amazingly with balance and being able to stand up straight while in heels. Of course I’ve spent the last 25 years in field boots and sneakers, but if the situation called for it I could still get around in 4″ if necessary. They might not be on long, but I can walk without being hunched over.
Well, the new muffies (house-slippers) arrived, and they’re good. Much better!
[The V-8 moment comes from a commercial in which a person who’s had another snack, then smites their forehead in remorse, saying “I could have had a V-8!” —a tomato and carrot juice concoction.]
I wonder… (Well, I would, that what Aspie’s do! 😉 )
“…beets, celery, carrots, lettuce, parsley, watercress, spinach, and tomato.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V8_%28beverage%29
yes, tomato-vegetable juice. It was improved slightly by adding a can of Snap-E-Tom (which is tomato-veggie with chiles) – I describe it as a 50-50 mix, one can of V8 and one (much smaller) can of Snap-E-Tom. (That was long before V8 started making their own spicy version.)
Langer’s makes a “spicy vegetable juice cocktail” something like that. It was on sale at Bimart so I tried a couple bottles. I’m beginning to think my belly thinks chilies are anti-diarrheals like immodium.
Thank you for the translations / explanations. I feel educated now 😉
Yeah, “muffies” escaped me too. And we Canadians pride ourselves on both being able to watch UK import tv shows without needing subtitles, AND speaking fluent ‘Murrican. I can translate “the cans of soda are in the paper sack behind the sofa” into ” the tins of pop are in the paper bag behind the chesterfield” practically simultaneously 😉
I can also say that my leopard print muffies are gloriously comfy and stable, and have (neat idea) a velcro tab at the side that lets you adjust the top to be a bit more snug, for when they inevitably—stretch out. These won’t.
Apf, I have to confess that I didn’t know what “muffies” were either, although my guess based on context was reasonably close. I’ve not heard that term used here in New England. Slippers is all I know. We use the term “sneakers” instead of “tennies” also for… Heck! I can’t remember the British English for them… Tennis shoes, maybe? They’re just sneakers to me.
Walt & Paul, Great quote on the thuggish English language, by the way!
In Britain I think what we call “Tennies” or “Sneakers” are “Trainers” if I understand my British mysteries correctly. I also was unfamiliar with “muffies”; it’s not a word I’ve heard in the parts of the US where I have lived (Texas and Maryland). My family called them “house shoes” usually. I splurged on a new pair of faux-fur lined moccasins at Target a couple of days ago; I totally wore through the sole on the last pair I had and threw them away last winter.
Thanks for sourcing the Nicoll quote Walt; I’d heard it before but had no idea who said it.
I got muffies from muffler, muff and context. I haven’t heard it either. Perhaps a regional word? I would just say slippers, slip-ons being outdoor shoes that slip on.
As usual, Google has a tool for it:
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=muffies%2Cslip-ons%2Ctennies%2Cboat+shoes%2Csneakers%2Cslippers&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cslip%20-%20ons%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ctennies%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cboat%20shoes%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Csneakers%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cslippers%3B%2Cc0
Take out “,sneakers,slippers” and the others will expand. People who train confuses “trainers”, of course.
The absolute worst are the ladybug muffies, the Hello Kitty muffies, and the bunny slippers…
Mine are tasteful leopard print. 😉
Why wouldn’t you want fluffy bunny slippers (I prefer the ones that look like the Killer Rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail)? Or ones that look like The Grinch, or The Cat In The Hat, or Cookie Monster, or any of a variety of characters? 😀
FWIW, my favorite “housewear” are rubber soled, fleece lined moccasins in summer, and likewise rubber soled, fleece lined, ankle high, slip-on “boots” in winter. With the rubber soles the traction is better and one can walk outside a bit, particularly on hardscape, without damage.
Had to buy a new pair of the moccasins this fall, but although the sole may be the same size they’re too tight! So I’m walking outside in the wet grass in them this fall, trying to get them to stretch.