Footwear: Runners. Sneakers. Trainers
There's a type of shoe which I, being Irish, would call runners. They're comfortable for running or walking in.
The British call them trainers, probably because they can be used for sports or training.
The Americans, meanwhile, call them sneakers, presumably because, being soft-soled, they're suitable for sneaking around in.
What are the actual sources of these words, and what words are used in other English-speaking areas, such as Australia and South Africa?
Solution 1:
@Callithumpian has given a nice representation of the words usage in America.
What are the actual sources of these words, and what words are used in other English-speaking areas, such as Australia and South Africa?
All of these words actually just refer to the "sports shoe" or "atheletic shoe"
Here are their origins:
The British English term "trainer" derives from "training shoe." There is evidence[2] that this usage of "trainer" originated as a genericized tradename for a make of training shoe made in 1968 by Gola...
This is "sneaker":
In the 1800s, a London police officer developed a rubber-soled shoe in order to catch criminals in the act quietly. He called his invention "sneakers". The name derived from the fact that the rubber soles of the shoes made them noiseless. The term "sneaker" was also used in 1887 by Boston Journal of Education:
“It is only the harassed schoolmaster who can fully appreciate the pertinency of the name boys give to tennis shoes — sneakers.”
In other countries, they're also called:
They are also known as trainers (British English), sandshoes, gym boots or joggers (Australian English), running shoes, runners or gutties (Canadian English, Australian English, Hiberno-English), sneakers, tennis shoes (North American English, Australian English), gym shoes, tennies, sports shoes, sneaks, tackies[1] (South African English and Hiberno-English), rubber shoes (Philippine English) or canvers (Nigerian English).
Solution 2:
Here's a geographic breakdown of names for the shoe in the U.S. from the Harvard Dialect Survey (note that tennis shoes is a close second to sneakers):
And here are the results of the same question asked for a Survey of English in the British Isles:
Solution 3:
I'm from Scotland and here "trainers" are low, flat, rubber-soled shoes (like converse or vans). Shoes for sports are usually just called "trainers" too but also "running shoes" or "court shoes" if used for an indoor sport such as volleyball or badminton. "Plimsoles" (rubber-soled shoes that wee kids would wear to PE (or gym class)) are called "gym shoes" and "pumps" are flat shoes with open tops usually made of leather or fabric.