Amanda the Great by Amanda El-Dweek for December 23, 2024

I haven’t heard tennie runners in years. And I’m from nowhere near the Dakotas.

I last heard the term in 1982 in Texas.

come to think about it – if i was to use my own slang in comics probably it would never be syndicated. Not even my family comprehends what I say (when I’m sober, and so they are)

The British strips call sneakers “trainers”.

I’ve been calling ’em “kicks” ever since I heard a guy in L.A. use that term.

There is absolutely no reason why you can’t use your regionalisms. And you should use them! It helps us all be multi-dialectal. (PS “tennis shoes” is also used in the South, so I was familiar with that. From that I could figure out “tennie runners”.)

Hilarious! A true upper-midwest regionalism. Last heard in the Milwaukee airport TSA line in 2003.

And from the vague hint as to the brand on the packaging (no “product placement” in this strip), I heartily approve that, too.

“Sneaks”

Truth be told most of us born Canadians (left Barrie decades ago) still do call our “tennis shoes” or “sneakers” runners. Even if we only walk in them.

I bought some sneakers for our trip to Disney. What a mistake! My feet hurt so much from wearing them as we walked around the park that I threw them into the garbage bin! I should have worn my sandals!

We called them gym shoes.

If you’re to aspire to Garey McKee-level shoe cartooning you’ve got to take them out of the box!

As this one stumped me, I had to refer my querry to my “answer bot” Alexa. She told me it was adapted back in the early 1900’s by the Adidas brand to set them apart from other brands as they were to be worn specifically for the sport of tennis. They also could be worn on a variety of tennis surfaces. Whether that’s correct is anyone’s guess.

As my feet get older and wider… Kicks just keep getting harder to find!

I remember “tennies” as current around 1960.

I still call them tennis shoes here in the San Francisco Bay Area. No one has ever questioned as to what I was referring to.

I wear tennies, ninees are too small and elevenees are too big.

Also remember ‘tennie runners’ as a name, probably less for the ones I wore to play tennis (double socks). in but maybe for ones for goofing off in… also Texas and would have been ‘70’s or ‘80’s

Speaking from the same region, I’m fully on board with tennis shoes, as well as tennis; not sur if I’ve ever heard tennis runners though. But I am 1-2 generations older than you.