the.com/slip on
The footwear equivalent of refusing to negotiate with your own laces.
means To put on a garment or shoe easily by sliding into it, without fastenings like buttons or laces.
from A pairing of two old Germanic workhorses: 'slip,' related to Middle Low German 'slippen' and a cousin of words meaning to glide smoothly, plus the directional 'on.' English has stacked verbs with little particles like this for centuries; here the image is literal — the foot or arm gliding 'on' in one frictionless motion. The adjectival 'slip-on' for laceless shoes followed naturally once the action named the object.
- origin
- Popularized by Vans skaters who hated tying shoes mid-trick
- speed
- Fastest path from doorbell to door, footwear-wise
- airport hero
- Beloved by frequent flyers for security-line stripping
- slang shift
- Same words also mean an easy, careless mistake
vans classic slip on — iconic unpadded canvas sneaker first made in 1979, one of the most popular shoe designs ever
banana peel slip on — slapstick trope popularized in silent films like charlie chaplin's works, causes comedic falls