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flip flops


rubber thongs (as in the footwear): You can only walk forwards in these flip flops!

Contributor's comments: I was born in South Australia in 1956 and I never ever heard thongs referred to as flip-flops. I first encountered this term in the US in 1982 in general usage. Jimmy Buffet refers to flip-flops in his 1970's song "Wasting away again in Margaritaville". If it is in use in SA now it's an import.

Contributor's comments: My Dad always called thongs flip flops in Townsville. So of course we always did too.

Contributor's comments: I always thought that "flip-flops" was a British term for thongs. My sister-in-law, who was born in London and has lived there until she immigrated here in 2002, still calls "thongs" flip-flops.

Contributor's comments: Thong is the common usage in Adelaide. I have never heard flip flops used. Maybe some migrants from interstate use the term.

Contributor's comments: As a child in NSW in the sixties the only word was 'thongs', until our cousins visited from Melbourne - they said 'flip flops', much to our amusement.

Contributor's comments: I agree with others in asking for this word to be removed from Adelaide and South Australia. Its use there revealed the speaker as a non-native.

Contributor's comments: I've lived in Melbourne all my life and they've always been referred to as thongs. The only time I've heard the term flip flops used in this way is by Scottish and English people.

Contributor's comments: Definitely a British word, I have only ever heard this term used in Australia by first generation poms.

Contributor's comments: I grew up in Melbourne and never heard anyone local use the term to describe thongs. I thought it was used interstate: Qld or WA?