Books written about England by a Brit

What's the deal with her using the word "trainers" in place of sneakers? Is that what sneakers are called in England? How about in Canada, are they called "runners" there? Also, why is she using "miles" instead of "kilometers"? Is it common to use miles (in Britain or the UK) or is this jsut a concession for marketing purposes?

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room101 · 51-55, M

Why do Americans use the word sneakers? Is it because you wear them to sneak up on people 🤔

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Fangirlsarah1996 · 26-30, F

@room101 It's a Black Panther joke :p

room101 · 51-55, M

@Fangirlsarah1996 The Black Panthers were an American civil rights movement, right? They didn't do much sneaking around. They were pretty bold.

OK, I'm taking the piss a little bit. I got the Black Panther reference. Big fan of both the comics and the MCU films. 😜

room101 · 51-55, M

@frequentlyme does that mean that you only wear them to play tennis?

SW-User

They are called trainers becuse you train in them, miles because the conversion was deemed too expensive, and football because you kick the ball with your foot! 😉

SW-User

@SW-User soccer comes from the word association. Sadly we gave it to them ans they use it. It's our fault.

SW-User

@SW-User I've heard several sources for 'soccer' none written in stone, but yeah. 🙂

FurryFace · 61-69, M

i call em Running shoes but i say miles instead of Kilometers but i also say C not F for temperature , i'm Canadian in Quebec , only English , don't start talking Froggy to me

frequentlyme · 70-79, M

@FurryFace 😂

Fangirlsarah1996 · 26-30, F

The same could be said about American's using the word "Sneakers" or using kilometres instead of miles. Oh or sidewalk, that's a good one.

SandInMyShoes · 36-40, F

@Fangirlsarah1996 "Restroom" cracks me up. I want a wee, not a rest!

frequentlyme · 70-79, M

@Fangirlsarah1996 I didn't mean it in a derogatory way, just finding it fun to try and translate what is written into what I know... for instance, she uses "nick" in place of police station/office.

frequentlyme · 70-79, M

@SandInMyShoes Yah, that one changed many years back. Mostly we used "bathroom" then it became more acceptable to say "restroom", and now it's a mix.

YouCanCallMeDan · 41-45, M

yeah we call them trainers or training shoes. Sneakers makes me laugh because you must all be sneaking about in them. Miles is always used instead of kilometres

SandInMyShoes · 36-40, F

She is calling trainers "trainers" because they are trainers!!
We use miles too.

SW-User

Trainers is the word we use.
As for miles...all our road signs are in miles..I guess we'll never change to km

EugenieLaBorgia · F

In England, it is always 'miles'.

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