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running shoe ((1))
DCHP-2 (Nov 2016)
Spelling variants:runner
1n. — Clothing, usually plural, especially from Quebec, Ontario to Western Canada
an athletic shoe; sneaker (see Image 1).
Type: 5. Frequency — The term running shoes or runners for athletic shoes, which are also often worn in non-sports contexts, is a Canadianism from the province of Quebec to British Columbia, where it is contrasted with American sneakers or alternative forms, e.g. tennis shoes (Berger 2005). In Atlantic Canada, the preferred term is sneakers, like the dominant American form (see Chart 1, where New Brunswick stands for Atlantic Canada and the American regions are on the right). Boberg (2010: 175) speaks in this context of three dialect regions: Western Canada (British Columbia to northwestern Ontario), where runners dominates, Central Canada (Ontario and Quebec), where running shoes is dominant, and Atlantic Canada, where sneakers is the majority form and "virtually excludes the Canadian variants, reaching 95 percent of responses in Nova Scotia" (ibid).
See: runner ((1))(def. 1a)
Quotations
1886
THE TEN MILE RACE [...] With regard to the real result we must say that we could not care to be in Stoke's running shoes if Deerfoot ever got after him to cut his hairs. At the conclusion a purse was made up to console Deerfoot for the loss of his well earned prize.
1894
[Richardson] wore a black knockabout cap, a brown Halifax tweed coat, blue serge knickerbockers, black stockings and lace boots; while Riley wore a straw hat with a black band, a grey check suit and running shoes.
1912
Sinclair, when he doffed the long coat he wore, stood forth in a blue and white swimming suit and rubber running shoes [...].
1932
Youths' and Boys' Running Shoes Brown canvas running shoes. Laced to toe style. Well made with corrugated brown rubber soles and ankle pads. Sizes 11 to 5. Pair 69¢
1950
Tightening weather at night, however, promised to put the field in a fairly playable condition. Ghost officials visited the park and prepared to order running shoes for the team since the surface then was wet and muddy.
1976
The three [...] dived several times and were on the point of giving up and getting a grappling iron when Mr. Armstrong felt a running shoe sticking out of the weeds in the gloomy water. Mr. Armstrong said the shoe "probably saved his life. We were just stone-cold lucky to get him."
1986
A generation ago, one pair of sneakers ran for everything.
The canvas shoe was it. It didn't matter if your passion was tennis, running or ping pong. Eager sales personnel said "this shoe" would do the trick. And it did. [...] If you play tennis in running shoes, the higher heel of a running shoe will make it harder to maintain the stability you need to cream the opposition. [...] If you plan to run regularly, you should plan to spend at least $60 for a decent pair of runners, says Dextras.
2000
I had watched a video in geography class about Siberia. In this one place, it drops so far below freezing, the rubber on the soles of your running shoes cracks when you step outside.
References
- Berger (2005)
- Chambers (1994-2004)
- Boberg (2010)
Images
Image 1: Runners, running shoes or sneakers from west to east in Canada. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Photo: Knixon4
