quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- rudesby (n.)




- "insolent person," 1560s, mock surname from rude + -by, common place-name (and thus surname) ending element, as in Grimsby, Rigby. Similar formations in idlesby, sneaksby "paltry, sneaking fellow" (1570s), suresby.
- sneaker (n.)




- 1590s, "one who sneaks," agent noun from sneak (v.). Meaning "rubber-soled shoe" is attested from 1895, American English; earlier sneak (1862), so called because the shoe was noiseless. See also plimsoll; another early name for them was tackies (1902), from tacky (adj.1).
The night-officer is generally accustomed to wear a species of India-rubber shoes or goloshes on her feet. These are termed 'sneaks' by the women [of Brixton Prison]. ["Female Life in Prison," 1862]
Related: Sneakers.