thats a regional thing, not a generational thing. also I'm pretty sure the term thong referring to flip flops come from how the bit between your toes looks like a thong.
this post was submitted on 28 May 2025
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The little bit between the toes IS a thong. The sandal and undergarment both get their name from a component in leatherworking. A thong is just a slender strip of leather or hide that is usually used to tie, bind, create loops, or otherwise fasten one thing to another. It also can refer to things that resemble the leather strip in form, function, or historical construction.
I think there is a passage in some translations of the Bible something like: “I am unworthy to undo the thong of his sandle”, which is not referring to flip-flops, but the ties or straps that hold the sandal on.
Still are in Australia. It was very confusing to my American wife for quite a while.
Hmmm there are quite a few of these... Ok these are UK/us mostly.
America: fanny - backside
UK: fanny - the other side (!)
America: rubber - condom
UK: rubber - something you use to erase pencil marks.
UK and others: Durex - Condom brand
Others: Durex - sticky tape
US: Suspenders - things for holding trousers up
UK: Suspenders - things for holding stockings up. Used with a suspender belt and with, or without, other underwear...
USA: Pants - leg coverings e.g. blue jeans
Most of the UK: Pants - things you wear under your blue jeans (unless ”going commando”)
What do they call "fanny packs" in the UK? Vagina pouches?
Bum bags.
...but nobody wears them since a very brief stint in the 80s.
Oh, they're coming round in popularity, particularly among Gen Z.
When you were a kid thongs were footwear and underwear, as well as the material for fastening the lash of a whip. You just used one definition.
Who knows, maybe they used the same item for each definition.
Australia: Kids wear thongs.
The US: Kids root for something.
Swap the country, and it gets super creepy.
You’re supposed to wear them on your feet???
Only if you're feeling hot
Sisqo's "Thong Song" is more or less two decades old so I guess you're old!
No they were not. I'm in my late 40s thongs have always been skimpy underwear
Could be from down under?
They are in Australia, they're a sandal-type footwear
I always assumed you called them thongs because the bit that goes between your toes looks like the underwear going up a butt-crack.
You got it backwards. Think about it. Beachwear has been a thing since around 1900, while visible underwear wasn't a thing until recently.
Easy way to remember is to think that necrosis usually starts at the extremities.