ENGLISH VOCABULARY

You guys loved my video on clothing vocabulary, but said you needed more.

So here is a vocabulary video about shoes.

We have so many different kinds of shoes, don’t we?

In this video, you’ll sit down with me and my sister-in-law, Lisa,

while we go over many kinds of shoes and other vocabulary words relating to shoes.

You’ll get more comfortable pronouncing words like leather and ankle.

You’ll learn new terms in American English like shearling and ‘fancy pants’.

I brought my sister-in-law Lisa here to crowdsource, help me go through some shoes.

She's brought a bunch.

Let's see.

Probably too many.

No, no such thing as too many shoes.

Now Lisa just told me--

That is argument in our house.

These are basketball shoes.

Right these are my daughter's basketball shoes, there's more support in ankle there.

Okay, I was saying I'm used to only ever seeing high-top basketball shoes.

I've never seen low top basketball shoes.

There we talked about two different styles of shoes: high tops, which go above the ankle, and low tops,

which go below the ankle.

Pretty self-explanatory.

The top of the shoe is either high or low.

High tops, low tops.

Say those with me.

High tops, low tops.

I was saying I'm used to only ever seeing high-top basketball shoes.

I've never seen low top basketball shoes.

I was afraid to let her wear the low tops.

I was afraid to turn her ankle.

But I guess it's a thing now.

Okay.

So...

Savannah's very athletic because she also has soccer shoes.

Cleats.

Cleats, you would call these.

And for some reason, people like to have a very different designs.

Yeah.

They want their cleats to stand out and be different from anyone else's.

Cleats.

So we talked about basketball shoes, and now we’re talking about cleats.

Cleats are shoes that have cleats for extra grip on the bottom.

You can have soccer cleats, baseball cleats.

A lot of sports shoes are called by the name of the sport:

basketball shoes, tennis shoes, running shoes, soccer cleats.

For sprinters on a track, their shoes are called spikes, and the spikes are much smaller than a cleat.

Cleat, cleats, KL consonant cluster, EE vowel, T.

Say that with me: cleat, cleats.

The word 'spike', SP consonant cluster.

some people think they should make this a B.

not true.

it's a very light P. sp, sp, sp.

Spike.

Spikes.

Say those with me: spike, spikes.

There’s one thing I want to say about ‘tennis shoe’.

One word ends in an S, tennis, the next word begins with an SH, shoe.

We actually link these words together and the SH takes over the S.

You may have noticed, we don’t say tennis-shoe.

Tennis shoe.

We don’t make an S and then an SH.

We drop the S and connect with the SH.

Tenni-shoe.

Tenni-shoe.

Say that with me.

Tennis shoe.

The same is true of the word 'dress shoe'.

We drop the S at the end of 'dress' and connect with an SH.

Dress shoe.

Dress shoe.

A 'dress shoe' can be a term for either men's shoes or women's shoes that are more formal.

So what other sports do you wear cleats in? Baseball, right?

>> Baseball, soccer... >> And track.

>> Runners have different-- >> Right.

Those are called spikes.

>> Right? >> Yeah.

But similar.

All right we got some boots here.

Lots of boots.

So this is the kind of boot I tend to wear to work in the winter.

It helps keep the leg warmer.

>> Okay. >> When it comes up high.

Yeah.

Is this a riding boot?

Or is the riding boot the one that's black and brown?

This kind of boot can be called a 'riding boot'.

It’s basically a high boot with that defined heel to fit into stirrups.

Of course, most people buy them for fashion and not for horseback riding,

which is what they were originally made for.

Riding boot.

Did you know that ‘riding’ sounds just like this word ‘writing’ because of the Flap T?

Riding, riding boot.

Say that with me.

Riding.

Riding boot.

The word 'Boot'.

Here the letters OO make the oo sound, so your lips come into a tighter circle and then relax.

I’ll do it slowly.

Watch my lips.

Boot.

The movement into and out of the lip position is important.

You don’t want them to just be a tight circle the whole time, boot, boot, boot.

that sounds too closed: boot, boot.

Relax, round in, and relax.

Say that with me.

Boot, boot.

Notice I'm making a Stop T.

you can make this into a Flap T if you're connecting into a next word that begins with a vowel or diphthong.

This is a knee-high boot basically.

Right.

It's not an above-the-knee. That's a different boot.

There we heard two different terms to describe kinds of boots. Knee-high means it comes just below the knee.

An above-the-knee boot would look like this.

Say those with me.

Knee-high, above-the-knee.

This is a knee-high boot basically.

Right.

It's not an above-the-knee.

That's a different boot.

These are kind of ankle boots.

Right.

Or is it if this an ankle boot or is a boot that goes like that an ankle boot?

Or those come-- I think they both get called ankle boots.

And then there's booties which is funny just because it sounds like booties.

Right.

But those are the ones that are cut like that.

Yeah.

Ankle boots and booties.

What I was holding up was an ankle boot.

The pronunciation of ‘ankle’

is a little tricky because the real pronunciation doesn’t match what you’ll see in a dictionary.

What you’ll see in the dictionary is this, the AA vowel followed by the NG consonant.

AA-ng, ang, ang, AA-nkle.

That’s not how we pronounce it.

Ankle.

The NG sound changes the AA Vowel so it’s more like the AY diphthong: AY, ankle.

Ankle boot.

Say that with me.

Ankle boot.

Then we have bootie.

This can either be a boot like this, or, it’s also something for newborn babies, like this.

They’re both called booties.

The T here is a Flap T because it comes between two vowels.

Booties.

Also, ‘bootie’ is a slang term for your butt.

Booties.

Booties.

Say that with me.

Booties.

These are kind of ankle boots.

Right.

Or is it, is this an ankle boot or is a boot that goes like that an ankle boot?

Or those come-- I think they both get called ankle boots.

And then there's booties which is funny just because it sounds like booties.

Booty, right.

But those are the ones that are cut like that.

Yeah.

Suede.

And suede definitely.

So this is leather.

Different from suede.

Leather and suede.

Two common types of materials that shoes are made of Leather.

This has that tricky TH.

Here it’s voiced, th, th, leather.

Notice it’s just the very tip of the tongue that comes through the teeth.

Leath, th, leather, leather.

Your tongue tip is already forward for the EH vowel, for that, it’s just behind the teeth.

So to make the TH, just bring it up, put it out a bit, and then bring your teeth together.

Leath- th, th, th, leather.

Say that with me.

Leather.

Suede.

SW consonant cluster, the AY diphthong.

Sue-- suede.

Usually the SW cluster is written with the letters S-W.

But in a few cases, like ‘suede’ or ‘suite’, it’s written with the letters S-U.

Suede.

Say that with me.

Suede.

Suede.

And suede definitely.

So this is leather.

Different from suede.

This one's got shearling inside.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

That's a, that is a cozy looking boot.

Shearling is that wooly stuff inside, lining the boot.

Very warm and comfortable in the winter.

The word ‘shearling’ can refer to a sheep who has had his wool cut off, or the wool itself.

This word would be written with the IH as in SIT vowel,

but when that’s followed by an R consonant in a stressed syllable, it’s more like the EE vowel,

Shea— shearr-- shearling.

Shearling.

Say that with me.

Shearling.

Suede.

And suede definitely.

So this is leather.

Different from suede.

This one's got shearling inside.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

That's a, that is a cozy looking boot.

That's what i wear around the house in the winter because i get such cold feet.

Did you hear my sister-in-law say she wears these boots around the house in the winter

because she gets ‘such cold feet’?

Her feet are cold!

That’s the literal meaning of this phrase.

But we also use ‘cold feet’ as an idiom and that means something totally different.

Do you know this idiom?

You’ll learn it here next week when we make a video that goes over idioms related to shoes like cold feet,

big shoes to fill, and a shoestring budget.

So be sure to come back to find that video here next week, Tuesday morning, Eastern time.

That's what I wear around the house in the winter because I get such cold feet.

Cold feet.

We'll do that next week in the idioms video.

>> That'll be a fun one. >> That'll be a fun one.

>> I shoe do wish I could see that one now! >> You shoe do!

Lisa said ‘shoe do’ instead of ‘sure do’, ‘I sure do wish I could’.

This is a pun, a play on words since we’re talking about shoes.

Okay, here we have clogs.

Yes. those are clogs.

Classic.

Lot of clogs have a wooden sole. These are rubber.

Mm-hmm.

Still called a clog.

Clog.

We also talked about two possible materials for the sole of the shoes,

that is, the part on the bottom that touches the street.

They can be wooden, made of wood, or rubber.

Clog.

The letter O makes the AH as in FATHER sound here.

Clog.

Say that with me.

Clog.

When we went over ‘boot’, you learned the letters OO make the OO sound.

Here, in ‘wood’ or ‘wooden’, they make the UH as in PUSH vowel. Uh, woo-, wood, wooden.

Remember ‘wood’ and ‘would’ are homophones – their pronunciation is the same. Wood, wooden.

Say these with me.

Wood, wooden.

So here are some more suede boots and these have a lower heel than others.

There's different heights of heels go with different outfits.

This is high.

This is a high heel.

That's a high bootie.

Yes. This is a high bootie, ankle boot, I cannot wear shoes this high.

I, sometimes I wear shoes when I need a tall attitude.

Yeah.

Those are tall attitude shoes.

I have noticed that you're pretty good about being able to wear pretty high heels.

You have to just make sure they're comfortable.

Otherwise...

See, that to me, it's like not a thing.

It can't happen. Right.

Very high heels, not comfortable.

These tend to not be as comfortable, but when we get to my platforms...

Okay.

>> Those are, even though those are high. >> Let's see 'em.

>> Here's another... >> So these boots...

Knee-high boot with studs.

Yeah.

>> Low-heel. >> I brought those just 'cause of the studs.

So we’re talking about heel height.

A low heel, a high heel.

Just like ‘wood’ and ‘would’ are homophones, ‘heel’, which refers to the part of the shoe

that goes under your heel, the part of your foot, is a homophone with H-E-A-L,

like when you heal from an injury.

H-E-E-L refers to a part of a sole, but also a part of a foot.

Heel.

Say that with me.

Heel.

You also saw studs on that boot.

A decoration that can go on something like a shoe, belt, or jacket.

Stud, studs.

With the UH as in Butter vowel.

Say those with me.

Stud, studs.

>> Here's another... >> So these boots...

Knee-high boot with studs.

Yeah.

>> Low-heel. >> I brought those just 'cause of the studs.

Converse.

>> Woah! Woah, my goodness. >> So this is...

What have we here?

These are some fancypants, spikey heeled,

sandals that you can't dance in but of course this is what kids wear to prom!

So that's what I brought these for.

Savannah had worn these...

>> 'Cause they're very dressy. >> To prom one year.

So very dressy.

Okay, so we heard some terms there. You heard ‘fancy pants’ and ‘dressy’.

‘Dressy’ is when you wear clothes that are more formal.

Not every-day clothes, not even work clothes or business attire, but dressy.

You could say, “we need to dress up for this event.”

Dress up.

That means you have to wear dressy clothes, more formal clothes, like what you might wear to a wedding.

“Fancy pants” is just a more playful way to say ‘dressy’.

It doesn’t have anything to do with pants specifically.

Say these with me: dressy, dressy.

Dress up.

Fancy pants.

Lisa called the shoes spikey-heeled sandals.

So she described the heel as being like a spike, tall and slim,

and the shoes are sandals because of the straps, an open feel.

Sandal has the AA followed by N in the stressed syllable, which makes it ‘aa-uh’ instead of a pure ‘aa’.

Sa-- san-- sandal.

Sandal.

Try that with me.

Sandal.

Sandal.

Converse.

>> Woah! Woah, my goodness. >> So this is...

What have we here?

These are some fancypants, spikey-heeled,

sandals that you can't dance in but of course this is what kids wear to prom!

So that's what I brought these for.

Savannah had worn these...

>> 'Cause they're very dressy. >> To prom one year.

So very dressy, um, you know, I...they were...

yeah.

>> Sandals. >> Worn for an hour maybe.

>> Open-toe. >> And then taken off.

Another term, open-toe.

This means, of course, that the toes are exposed.

Open-toe.

Say that with me.

Open-toe.

>> Open-toe. >> And then taken off.

Now, see, this isn't quite a stiletto.

A stiletto is where this is maybe a quarter-inch wide max.

Right.

Really comes to a point.

Very thin.

So it's a high heel, not quite a stiletto, sandal, open-toed.

Stiletto.

Not the most comfortable shoe out there.

The double T here is a Flap T because it comes between two vowels and doesn’t start a stressed syllable.

Stiletto.

Not ‘stiletto’.

Ttt--

But stiletto, da-da-da, stiletto.

Say that with me.

Stiletto.

Now, see, this isn't quite a stiletto.

A stiletto is where this is maybe a quarter-inch wide max.

Right.

Really comes to a point.

Very thin.

So it's a high heel, not quite a stiletto, sandal, open-toed.

Don't think we'll ever understand that prom culture.

Oh, these dressy ones, I wore to your wedding.

Nice!

Sometimes, when you want to do something dressier, you'll have like a little flower on there.

Closed toe.

>> Ankle strap. >> Or, I don't know, ankle strap,

I guess you would ca ll that.

So is this-- This is a pump, wouldn't you call that a pump, Christina?

>> Mm-hmm. >> Mm-hmm.

Even with the ankle strap?

Yep.

Yep.

Still a pump.

Pump, ankle strap, closed-toe.

A pump is a high-heel that’s not a boot or a sandal. It’ can be a peep-toe.

What's peep-toe?

I actually have a peep-toe clog right here.

So peep toe is on a pump or it could be in a two-part sandal like this

where there's a little bit cut out where just the toes would come through, but the rest is covered.

They're just peeping through.

Peep toe.

Say that with me.

Peep toe.

An ankle strap, that’s self explanatory.

Closed-toe shoe.

The opposite of open-toe, the toes are not exposed.

Notice you don’t really hear the D here. It comes between Z and T,

and sometimes we drop the D between two other consonants.

It gets lost here in the other sounds.

You can just drop it and connect Z to T.

Closed-toe.

Closed-toe.

Closed-toe shoe.

Say that with me.

Closed-toe shoe.

Oh, these dressy ones, I wore to your wedding.

Nice!

Sometimes, when you want to do something dressier, you'll have like a little flower on there.

Closed toe.

>> Ankle strap. >> Or, I don't know, ankle strap,

I guess you would call that.

So is this-- This is a pump, wouldn't you call that a pump, Christina?

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Even with the ankle strap?

Yep.

Yep.

Still a pump.

Now these, eventhough they look high-ish,

if you think about the platform, there'll be another...it's really not much of...

But I love these because I feel tall in them.

And they're comfortable.

I'm a big fan of platforms.

Yeah.

'Cause as someone who's short, I also like to have some height but I can't handle it all being in the heel.

So I love to do platforms. I actually like flatforms. Have you heard this phrase before?

No.

It's when the toe part and the heel part are basically the same height.

I might have some flatforms.

Flip flops.

>> Oh, flatform flip flops! >> I don't think I brought those though.

That's okay.

Platform and flatform.

Platform shoes have some height under the toe, and even more under the heel like Lisa’s boots.

Flatforms have a more or less equal throughout, like these. I have a pair of orange flatforms which I love.

So the heel is a little bit higher than the toe but not much. I think this still counts as a flatform shoe.

Flatform is a word that was made up recently, it's a play on words.

It’s a platform, but your foot is flat instead of having a higher heel.

I did notice, this word has been taken up by several online dictionaries like MacMillian, Oxford, and Collins.

So I guess we can say it's an official word now.

Platform, flatform.

Say those with me.

Platform, flatform.

I'm a big fan of platforms.

Yeah.

'Cause as someone who's short, I also like to have some height but I can't handle it all being in the heel.

So I love to do platforms. I actually like flatforms. Have you heard this phrase before?

No.

It's when the toe part and the heel part are basically the same height.

I might have some flatforms.

Flip flops.

>> Oh, flatform flip flops! >> I don't think I brought those though.

That's okay.

But these platforms, these sandals...

Yeah.

I wear these to work and they're very comfortable.

Really?

And you'd never guess.

But if you think about it, it's really only that much of a wedge heel.

Yes. And that's called a wedge because the whole thing is filled in.

This one we have the heel and then the toe part so because of this, this is not a wedge. But that's a wedge.

Wedge.

A wedge shoe.

Something that’s thick and then tapers.

It’s also a verb we use to cram something into a tight space.

For example, I can’t wedge one more thing into my suitcase, it’s totally full.

Wedge.

Say that with me.

Wedge.

Yes. And that's called a wedge because the whole thing is filled in.

This one we have the heel and then the toe part so because of this, this is not a wedge. But that's a wedge.

Good point.

Oh, are these hiking shoes?

Yes. These are my waterproof hiking boots.

Oh, boots, yeah.

And they really did keep me dry.

So yeah, this was important when I was hiking in Iceland, it was very wet this summer.

Hiking boots or shoes, water-proof.

Just like we talked about earlier with running shoes, basketball shoes, tennis shoes.

This shoe is named by what you use it for.

Hiking.

You need good treads on the bottom to help prevent slipping as you’re going down a mountain.

You need good ankle support.

You can have a hiking shoe, which goes below the ankle, or a hiking boot, which goes above the ankle.

Hiking boot, hiking shoe.

Say those with me.

Hiking boot, hiking shoe.

Waterproof.

A very good quality to have in certain shoes.

This means water can't get in.

Waterproof.

We have a Flap T in WATER, wa-da-da-da-da.

Water.

Water.

Waterproof.

Say that with me.

Waterproof.

Yes. These are my waterproof hiking boots.

Oh, boots, yeah.

And they really did keep me dry.

So yeah, this was important when I was hiking in Iceland, it was very wet this summer.

Mm-hmm.

And my toes were so warm.

So this is a boot instead of a shoe because it comes up a little bit higher where the ankle would be.

Right.

I have hiking shoes.

So then are your shoes lower?

It's cut like a sneaker.

But it's that solid base, it's that same waterproof idea.

Actually, I had to get rid of them because I propped my feet too close to the camp fire once.

I do that a lot.

When you ‘get rid of’ something, you throw it away or give it way.

Unfortunately, I had to throw away these shoes out because the campfire melted the soles.

I also said the word ‘sneaker’ there.

This is a generic term for a shoe that you could wear for sports. It can be a high top or a low top.

Sneaker.

Ending, unstressed, quick schwa-R, er, er, er, sneaker.

Sneaker. Say that with me.

Sneaker.

Okay, now these, I was really hoping someone had an example of these.

Mmm cowboy boots.

Cowboy boots.

Now, these are like pretty intense.

That is a pointy toe.

I do have different variations of cowboy boots when I want to be real serious about it,

these are the ones I go to.

'Cause it has the pointy toe, and there's stitching on the side.

And this sort of shape up top, leather, and yeah, the embroidery, low-ish heel.

>> That's sort of what makes a cowboy boots. >> Straps to pull them on.

Right.

There's no zipper or snaps or anything.

Cowboy boot.

We tend to call them that even when girls wear them.

Cowboy, stress on the first syllable.

Cowboy boot.

Say that with me.

Cowboy boot.

Also, I said the phrase ‘pointy toe’, which means the toe box of the shoe is very pointed.

I said ‘pointy’ with a T.

And when Lisa said it, she said ‘poinny’, without a T.

Why? It’s common to drop the T after N.

If you’re not going to drop it, then it’s a True T.

Pointy or ‘poinny’.

Either pronunciation is okay.

Listen to that part again.

Cowboy boots.

Cowboy boots.

Now, these are like pretty intense.

That is a pointy toe.

I do have different variations of cowboy boots when I want to be real serious about it,

these are the ones I go to.

'Cause it has the pointy toe, and there's stitching on the side.

And this sort of shape up top, leather, and yeah, the embroidery, low-ish heel.

>> That's sort of what makes a cowboy boots. >> Straps to pull them on.

Right.

There's no zipper or snaps or anything.

Cowboy boot.

What are these with the laces?

So these are my snow boots.

And they're nice and fuzzy inside.

So this is what I wear to walk the dog in the winter.

You wouldn't be able to wear those other fuzzy ones because they would just get saturated and wet.

Okay so these are your waterproof, lace-up, snowboots.

>> Snowboots. >> Snowboots.

>> Snowboots. >> Snowboots, yeah.

Snow boots.

Depending on where you live, you must have these to survive winter. They’re warm and they’re waterproof.

Snow boots.

OH diphthong.

Snow.

Snowboots.

Say that with me.

Snow boots.

You can also have rain boots, which you want to be waterproof but they don't have to be so warm.

But they’re usually pretty hot because they’re made out of rubber.

Rain boots, there are other terms for these shoes too, like galoshes.

Galoshes, make sure you’re saying that with a schwa in that first syllable.

Ga-, ga-, galoshes.

Rain boots.

Here are my rainboots.

Pretty simple. Green. Easy to slip on and take off.

Rain boots, galoshes.

Say those with me.

Rain boots, galoshes.

When discussing snow boots, we mentioned that they are lace-up.

This is different from Velcro, like Stoney’s shoes, let me show you, his cute little sandals.

That's the sound of velcro, isn't it?

So you can have lace-up, you can have velcro, you can have slip-ons.

Slip-ons are shoes that don’t fasten in any way like my rain boots.

An example of a slip-on would also be a loafer, which is a shoe shaped like this.

Say those with me.

Lace up, Velcro, slip on, loafer.

Notice in lace up and slip on, we have a linking ending consonant into beginning vowel.

Sup.

Lace up.

Pon.

Slip on.

And then that brings us to one of my favorites because this means summer.

>> Flip flops. >> Flip flops.

Although I do have those flatform type flip flops too that make me nice and high.

Flip-flops.

This is by far the most common term in America to refer to these shoes,

and other countries have other terms used, like thongs.

Flip-flops.

Two FL clusters, the first word is stressed.

Flip-- Close your lips for the first P, but don’t release it, pp. Just go right into the next F.

Flip----flops.

Flip-flops.

Flip-flops. Say that with me.

Flip-flops.

Have you ever heard the term ‘boat shoe’?

It’s a pretty common style in the US in summer.

Originally developed, I suppose, for boating, now an everyday shoe.

Lisa didn’t have any work boots, but these are shoes you would use to do dirty, maybe outdoor work.

Yard work, construction, you name it.

They’re often made of leather or rubber.

Definitely not a shoe you would wear to the office.

Work boots.

Say that with me.

Work boots.

And what about when you’re home relaxing?

Then you might slip into something more comfortable, slippers.

Something you wear around the house. You can slip them on easily, the don’t tie, snap or zip.

Slippers.

Say that with me.

Slippers.

One kind of shoe Lisa didn't have is a flat.

I don't really have a flat either but I do have this shoe which is almost flat. It's got a very low heel.

But a flat is a shoe that's this shape with basically no heel.

Flat.

Sometimes they're called ballet flats because they look a little bit like a ballet slipper.

Say that with me.

Flat.

Flats.

What’s your favorite shoe, and why?

Let me know in the comments below.

If you’re seeing this on Facebook, post a picture of your favorite shoes in the comments!

What about clothes?

I made a popular clothing vocabulary video you’ll want to be sure to check out,

along with all of my vocabulary builder videos.

Click here or in the description below.

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.