Get ready to dip your toes into the weird and wonderful iconic Aussie thong, its history, and slang terms as part of the local lingo series.

WHAT DOES THE THONG MEAN IN AUSTRALIA?

The definition of the Australian thong is the rubber-soled slipper style of footwear.

They’re airy, light, and perfect for wearing to the beach, which is why many see the Aussie thong as a symbol of summer. As I live in the land of eternal summer and outback dust, it’s common for many Aussies to own a few pairs of thongs for different occasions.

WHY DO AUSSIES CALL THEM THONGS?

The word THONG means restraint, referred to as the piece of rubber that is used to slide between the big and second toe to keep the soul of the sandal.

THE HISTORY OF THE AUSSIE THONG – WELL, IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!

Known as one of the oldest styles of footwear in the world, some claim that the Aussie Thong came from the modernised version of the ancient Japanese flat-soled, Zori.

Yet, the ancient Egyptians were wearing them back in 1500BC.

But it wasn’t until they found the means to mass-produce rubber, that the Australian Shoe Company, Dunlop, brought the first 300,000 pairs of thongs in 1959. Production of the Aussie Thong soon began in the 1960s, by Dunlop, quickly becoming the popular Aussie footwear of choice from the 60s.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A GOOD AUSSIE THONG.

Today the humble thong is a 20 billion dollar industry that is so universally popular, that it outsells sneaker sales.

The Thong itself comprises 4 parts, sometimes fewer.

So, working from top to the bottom you have:

The Strap, also known as a thong, has plugs on the end to connect it to the sole.

The fancier the Aussie Thong, the thicker the sole that is comprised of: a base sole, midsole and insole.

And that’s it.

Of course, you can change the colours and add glitter to it too. But the simplicity of its design has remained the same for centuries. I mean, why fix what isn’t broken, right?

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PLUGGER WHEN IT COMES TO THE AUSSIE THONG!

The plug, also known as the Plugger, is the lug that connects the thong piece to the sole of the shoe, first patented by Dunlop in the early 1960s.

The double plugger thong refers to double plugs holding the thong strap to the sole. This means avoiding the dreaded plugger blowout — especially when the ground is super hot, where you could fry an egg on it making you do this skipping dance that you’ll kids will never forget – and will name and shame you forever. (*Ahem…)

Anyhoo, sadly thongs have earned a bad rap for becoming stubborn landfills and littering oceans, so now they’re being made from recyclable materials.

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WHAT ARE THE OTHER NAMES FOR THE AUSSIE THONG?

You’d be surprised at how many names this simple shoe bears across the globe. So here are just a few where the thong is called:

Flip-flops – are most commonly referred to in the US because of the flapping sound they make. That’s like a bad pun that never goes away.

Flip-lop and or Tongs in Cambodia.

Jandals in New Zealand, which is a combination of the words: Japanese + Sandal.

Slipper or Slippah in Hawaii.

Beach sandals in Japan.

Schlapfen in Austria.

Slops, planks, plakkies in Africa.

Sliders or slides for various other countries.

Seriously, all that for one shoe! But wait, there’s more…

THE AUSSIES SLANG (NICKNAMES) FOR THE AUSSIE THONG.

Typically, the Aussies have many other names for the Aussie Thong which depends on where you are in the country.

So here are a few local slang terms for the Aussie Thong:

Samurai fighting shoes

Queenslander’s Safety boots

Sand sliders

Bogan’s boots

Outback snowshoes

Mudskippers

Sunday best

Bangers

In the Northern Territory, thongs are most commonly referred to as pluggers or double pluggers.

HOW DID THE THONG BECOME KNOWN AS UNDERWEAR?

In the US, they refer to the thong as underwear and the shoe as the flip-flop.

But before you snigger, this change was only recent.

According to the dictionaries, a THONG is a narrow strip of leather, like the strap used on a thong to fasten the shoe between the big and second toe! Like a G-string.

But the use of the word thong when referring to the shoe has been used in the US from as early as the 1960s, in Seattle, Boston, New York Etc.

It wasn’t until the 1990s that they changed the name of the shoes to Flip-flop when the slinky style of underwear became more popular.

via GIPHY

TO WEAR OR NOT TO WEAR THE AUSSIE THONG – THAT IS THE QUESTION!

As far back as 1924, The Herald stated that wearing high heels was better than thongs in stopping foot fatigue as well as helping corrections of walking styles. Even with the podiatrist’s concerns it never stopped many from wearing them…

The Dalai Lama of Tibet wears his thongs all the time.

And In the 1956 Melbourne Olympic games, the Australian Olympic Team wore thongs as part of their uniform.

2000 Sydney Olympics the Aussies showed their love of the thong when Kylie Minogue was carried on top of a massive thong carried by some very bronzed and buff Aussie lifeguards.

And in 2005 an American Lacrosse team wore their thongs to the White House to meet the president. Shoes that is!

But in 1978 Australian School teachers were banned from wearing thongs to work.

And then the iconic Aussie thong was banned from being worn at any official Australian Day ceremonies as part of the dress codes only as recent as 2020.

Oh, and it’s a fashion no-no when it comes to wearing your socks with your thongs. Just don’t do it. Ever.

7 MORE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT THE AUSSIE THONG:

The thong throwing competition is an Australia Day tradition, right up there with Ute Musters, beers, and barbecues busily burning the bacon! As for the thong toss, its rules are so technical you’d need a PHD in BS! Err, no… Honestly, it’s really simple, all you do is throw your thong as far as you can, and who throws it the farthest wins. The world record for the longest distance in the thong throwing competition is over 42 metres.

The third Friday of June is National Flip Flop Day. Or you can call it Thong day in the US and see the reactions you’ll get.

The New Zealanders used to hold an annual National Jandals Day to support their local lifeguards.

The Beach Boys mention thongs as shoes, and not clothes, in their hit song, All Summer Long. Which also proved that thongs came first before the underwear, huh?

A pair of Hermes designed thongs will fetch over $600 USD. Sadly, they aren’t double pluggers, even if they look exactly like the ones being sold in the local supermarket for $10 AU.

The Aussie thong also has its own emoji 🩴🩴🩴🩴that is used to talk about the beach and summer.

Book a date with yourself to ecape to HEA

NOW YOU KNOW ALL ABOUT THE AUSSIE THONG…

Thongs have always been a part of the Aussie way of life. For me, like so many of us, I usually have a pair of thongs sitting at the front door, the back door, and a spare pair is kept under the seat of the ute.

There’s the friend who’ll group text: ‘‘Found a stash of Double-pluggers — who wants some?” Where we’ll promptly text our reply with the entire family’s shoe size!

“I scored a flash set of outback safety boots for Chrissie.” (Christmas) Which is the perfect gift for that bloke who has everything.

The Aussie Thong is such a big part of our day-to-day lifestyle that many of us never give a second thought about them, until the dog has claimed them as his favourite new toy, and you find yourself skipping over the scorching concrete to retrieve them from the red dust settling over the outback. We love our dog, but jeez, you’d think he’d learn by now.

But luckily, you get to skip the heat, the flies, and the plugger-blowouts, by reading this outback series from the comforts of home. It’ll have you speaking the local lingo in no time.

PS – The local lingo series is a result of my international readers emailing me about the words I use in my novels. If you find an Aussie Slang term you need interpreting, don’t be shy and let me know.