It was great to read an explanation that doesn’t just default to William Safire, but offers some original thought on the subject. Thank you!
MarkB:
December 26th, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Regarding white bucks: I wore them in a marching band in the 1960s, and never used powder. There was a white liquid ‘polish’ that was applied from a sponge of sorts in the end cap. A single dark scrape in our white bucks counted as a tenth of a point off our score in marching competitions held during the summer.Yes, in grade school, we were inspected like army drill instructors examining their unit.
Rockwell Yale 64:
May 4th, 2014 at 7:57 pm
As I understood the taxonomy at the time, “white shoe” was indeed the upper crust of Yale collegiate society. Often, the white shoe’s father, grandfather, et al, were Yale alumni–the shoe was invariably tapped for Skull & Bones, etc. The white shoe would consider a 2.00 GPA ideal, as it was all about the contact anyway.
The “brown shoe” was from a more humble background–probably a B+ student from one of the “lesser” prep schools or even from a public school. A good athlete and of such character that he (we are talking about a pre-1964-65 all male campus here)was able to fit in with white shoe culture effectively.
The “black shoe” was probably one of the more brilliant students on campus but lacking in any of the social graces and caring less. The older brother of the “nerd-techie”, he would major in the hard sciences or even (gasp) engineering.
Leave a comment
Search us!
Search The Word Detective and our family of websites:
This is the easiest way to find a column on a particular word or phrase.
To search for a specific phrase, put it between quotation marks. (note: JavaScript must be turned on in your browser to view results.)
Ask a Question!
Puzzled by Posh?
Confounded by Cattycorner?
Baffled by Balderdash?
Flummoxed by Flabbergast?
Perplexed by Pandemonium?
Nonplussed by... Nonplussed?
Annoyed by Alliteration?
Houston Texas Motorcycle Accident Attorney:
October 28th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Hey this is a good article! I always heard the term “white shoe” but never really knew what it meant. Thanks
Rough-shod: What Grandpa wore on Spring Street in the ’50’s … : EphBlog:
March 6th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
[…] http://www.word-detective.com/2009/08/24/white-shoe-firm/ […]
John Thorne:
May 3rd, 2012 at 11:45 am
It was great to read an explanation that doesn’t just default to William Safire, but offers some original thought on the subject. Thank you!
MarkB:
December 26th, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Regarding white bucks: I wore them in a marching band in the 1960s, and never used powder. There was a white liquid ‘polish’ that was applied from a sponge of sorts in the end cap. A single dark scrape in our white bucks counted as a tenth of a point off our score in marching competitions held during the summer.Yes, in grade school, we were inspected like army drill instructors examining their unit.
Rockwell Yale 64:
May 4th, 2014 at 7:57 pm
As I understood the taxonomy at the time, “white shoe” was indeed the upper crust of Yale collegiate society. Often, the white shoe’s father, grandfather, et al, were Yale alumni–the shoe was invariably tapped for Skull & Bones, etc. The white shoe would consider a 2.00 GPA ideal, as it was all about the contact anyway.
The “brown shoe” was from a more humble background–probably a B+ student from one of the “lesser” prep schools or even from a public school. A good athlete and of such character that he (we are talking about a pre-1964-65 all male campus here)was able to fit in with white shoe culture effectively.
The “black shoe” was probably one of the more brilliant students on campus but lacking in any of the social graces and caring less. The older brother of the “nerd-techie”, he would major in the hard sciences or even (gasp) engineering.