The High Heeled Ruminations Of Melrose Plant

[p1ng74]

I'm a pretty casual enthusiast, so the only abbreviation I see regularly is WIWT.  

This is why I love this forum.  I have worked for a company for 11 years whose name is literally an initialism.  Tragically, in my entire time there I have never heard anyone call an initialism what it is, and abuse of the definition of acronym is rampant.  This ends now... thanks for the reality check!  

Edited July 2, 2022 by p1ng74

[Puffer]

2 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

...

I'm going to tag @Puffer on this one, because this is probably right up his alley. I didn't actually invent this "acronym." Or maybe I did. As I'm sure you are quite aware, being a fashion enthusiast yourself, OOTD is as common as dirt on many social media platforms. Like I said previously, I had to change it to reflect one-seventh the frequency.

On a slightly different subject, we call these things "acronyms," but they are not truly acronyms. That definition may be changing as people, including me, slightly misuse it, but what we really mean is "initialism." To be a true acronym, the initials must form a sort of word that you say, kind of like "LASER, SCOTUS, SCUBA," that sort of thing. An initialism is an abbreviation where you say the letters, like "FBI, DIY," and quite possibly "OOTD." OOTD is an interesting one, though, because at least as I use it, it's only in writing, as "Outfit Of The Day" rolls off the tongue quite easily, perhaps rather more easily than saying, "oh-oh-tee-dee." "Eff-bee-eye" is obviously more handy than saying "Federal Bureau of Investigation" every single time.

I could go on to examine the fact that Americans will call air-conditioning "A/C," whereas Brits will tend to say "aircon." Both are shortened forms, and some might point out the the initialism "A/C" might be mistaken for "Alternating Current," whereas "aircon" cannot. However, in real life, this never happens. Y'all ave a good day.

How can I not respond, although I'm not entirely sure what pearls of wisdom you expect me to add to your explanation of the various types of somewhat disparate abbreviation?

In my book, an acronym is as you say - initial (or more) letters forming a pronounceable word.  ('Radar' is an example of the latter: ra(dio) d(etection) a(nd) r(anging), where two letters in 'radio' are both used.)   Sometimes, not all letters are used (particularly if representing  conjunctions), as in NASA - which would be NAASA if the 'and' was also represented.

An initialism (such as FBI or BBC) uses initial letters (and sometimes others) and they are pronounced separately.   They may be separated by full stops (periods) but that once-universal convention is increasingly ditched.

A basic abbreviation (sometimes called a contraction) is simply a shortened form of a word in which certain letters apart from the first (and often the last) are omitted, as in 'Dr' (doctor) or St (street or saint).   Here again, the convention of always adding a full stop (period) after such is no longer as common as it once was, particularly when both the first and last letters appear.   (I am aware that it remains common in the US (or U.S.!) for the stops to be included.)

A contraction (properly so-called) is a combination of two words into one, where one or more letters are omitted and represented by an apostrophe, as in don't for does not.

In my UK experience, we would usually say aircon but write either aircon or A/C;  the control in a car is usually labelled A/C.  We use AC as an initialism for alternating current and often use A/C to mean account.

There is quite a lot more that could be said about these and other forms of abbreviation - but I guess you have had quite enough excitement for one day.

TTFN,

Puffer

[TTFN is possibly unknown outside the British Empire.   It stands for 'Ta-ta for now', i.e. 'Goodbye for the present', and I believe was a catchphrase originating in a wartime radio comedy programme.]

[SF]

 

[Puffer]

17 hours ago, SF said:

cartoon

Ha ha!   I don't recognise the cartoon, but interesting that it seems to be better known outside the UK than I expected.

[mlroseplant]

2 hours ago, Puffer said:

Ha ha!   I don't recognise the cartoon, but interesting that it seems to be better known outside the UK than I expected.

I might have figured SF would provide a link to Tigger from Winnie-the-Pooh. I can't say as I am surprised that you don't recognize the Disney animated version, as it bears (no pun intended) little resemblance to A.A. Milne's books, especially in that few second clip.

One interesting abbreviation I have run across is the initialism LED, or Light Emitting Diode. Or I should say, it's an initialism here, but in Asia, everyone seems to pronounce it as a word, making it an acronym.

[at9]

Twinkle, twinkle little LED

How I wonder if you're dead.

This side of The Pond we say it as both the word LED and "ell ee dee".

The wiki entry for TTFN https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TTFN states what I believe is the correct origin, the BBC WW2 radio comedy "It's that man again", usually abbreviated to ITMA. The Winnie the Pooh film reference is given (it's not in the books) but the surprise was its use in Batman in 1966.

[SF]

TTFN.  Not the most popular way to say goodbye, but it was used by some (including me and friends) out here on the west coast back in the 80's.  

Not so much anymore, but folks, at least the ones I asked, still know what it means.  

Oh well, Happy Fourth of July all, and enjoy your heels...  smile...  TTFN

sf

PS I never cared much for Tigger, but my kids loved the character back then.  

[Puffer]

10 hours ago, at9 said:

Twinkle, twinkle little LED

How I wonder if you're dead.

This side of The Pond we say it as both the word LED and "ell ee dee".

The wiki entry for TTFN https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TTFN states what I believe is the correct origin, the BBC WW2 radio comedy "It's that man again", usually abbreviated to ITMA. The Winnie the Pooh film reference is given (it's not in the books) but the surprise was its use in Batman in 1966.

10 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

I might have figured SF would provide a link to Tigger from Winnie-the-Pooh. I can't say as I am surprised that you don't recognize the Disney animated version, as it bears (no pun intended) little resemblance to A.A. Milne's books, especially in that few second clip.

One interesting abbreviation I have run across is the initialism LED, or Light Emitting Diode. Or I should say, it's an initialism here, but in Asia, everyone seems to pronounce it as a word, making it an acronym.

I've never heard anyone in the UK call an LED a 'led', but no doubt some do.

Yes, 'TTFN' did indeed feature prominently in ITMA and I'm sure that was indeed its origin.   There were a number of other catchphrases in that extremely popular programme, most of which have survived, even though used by people who (like me) were born well after the programme last aired.   I blame my late parents (both fans of ITMA) ...

As to 'Tigger', I should perhaps have recognised the character and the setting but have never seen the film - perhaps just as well.

[mlroseplant]

It is another mystery of life as to why some shoes are more comfortable than others. Sometimes this defies logic. This week, I wore the most outrageous shoes I've ever worn to work a farmer's market--my Miu Miu navy blue wooden sandals. I say most outrageous because it's the first time I've worn really high heels with shorts, and the numbers are there--5 1/2" heel with 1 1/4" platform.

I did bring backup shoes just in case, and I have to admit that I did the setup in the backup shoes, which were a 2" wedge heeled Söfft sandal which are the same as flats in my estimation. Then I switched to the wooden heels to remove the car from the area, park it, and walk back to get started for the night. Amazingly enough, I never had to use the backup shoes. I even tore down and drove home in the high shoes. Previous to this, I had never worn them for more than about 2 hours at a time, and not standing. This time, it was 5 hours, 4+ of which was standing or walking. And it wasn't bad!

Here's the thing that defies logic. These sandals are solid wood, except for the leather strap and a bit of a rubber sole. Your foot rests directly on the wood. No padding, no nothing. Many times, heavily padded shoes do worse. I am not convinced that heavy padding = comfort, unlike what most people say.

Here is a mirror selfie from the nearby men's room, and a shot from underneath the canopy looking out at customers.

[Jkrenzer]

Exceptionally nice. Those are great looking and fit well is a bonus.

[mlroseplant]

Another week, another outfit that is kind of the same as every other week. I'm not very creative when it comes to what to wear. The only thing of note is that I won't be working a farmer's market in these Mark & James platform sandals again. They weren't horrible, and I did not have to use my backup shoes, but with their giant platform, they felt very unstable and awkward to walk in.

On the other hand, I got three compliments during the evening. To be sure, they were all from women who were a little bit out there for their own personal style. One in particular was sporting very colorfully dyed hair, very loose jeans with giant holes in them, and fingernails that were every bit of an inch and a half long, sharpened to needle-like points. It's funny that I consider myself to be quite conservative in my presentation, but evidently, I'm "out there" too.

[Jkrenzer]

Nothing conservative about a man in heels buddy.

[mlroseplant]

22 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

Nothing conservative about a man in heels buddy.

I dunno. I suppose it depends upon your point of view. Everything about me is fairly conservative, with the exception of my shoes, shorts, and probably politics. I'm really a very boring guy.

[mlroseplant]

Church outfit of the week, which again, looks pretty much like everything else I wear. It seems the only things that change are the colors. Oh, and the new sandals, featured elsewhere on this forum. I did get some comments on the shoes. I mean, how could you not?

[HappyinHeels]

mlroseplnt,

 I’m surprised these wedges were not cumfy and felt unstable at the farmers market. They’ve always been my top choice for wearing outdoors at a wedding, a picnic, or even walking around your place. Of course we all now know some shoes simply don’t feel as good as they seemed in the store. I wouldn’t stop wearing wedges generally. I’ve enjoyed wearing them with jeans, skirts, and dresses and none of mine are under 4”/10cm. Several members here remember  seeing my wedges. It’s part of my style as your shorts are of yours. You’re different from me but in understandable ways. If we weren’t then we would live in a bland and uninspiring world. I’ll take the multi-coloured hair girl or the shorts-wearing guy with wedge sandals whether I agree with all their views on the world or not. The creativity and freedom to express thru style is what life is about. HappyinHeels 

[mlroseplant]

It was a sad day in the world yesterday. My BCBGirls Bonny mules, my favorite pair of walking shoes, yielded up the ghost by shank failure. As many of you may know, it's not totally bad, because I still have three identical pairs in reserve. Two down, three to go. I was slightly disappointed that the right shoe failed at only 115.6 miles, but I suppose that is actually pretty amazing considering the design of the shoe.

I only wish they had lasted another 10 miles, which would have made them, at least temporarily, the most durable heels I've owned. As it is, that honor is still held by my Nine West oxfords, which are still kicking, and actually remain quite presentable if you polish them up. The Bonny No. 2s, on the other hand, were not really presentable. They were pretty much trashed, and I would never actually wear them in public, if you don't count walking around the neighborhood.

I guess we get to start on Bonny No. 3 now. It will take a while for them to get soft and pliable like the No. 2s were. And it will be interesting to see if they last about the same amount of time and mileage.

[HappyinHeels]

Mlroseplant,

 I remember seeing you in those Bonnie sandals so I know they were special. Given the narrow vamp and no ankle strap I think these mule sandals did well for you. 116 miles is 322-325000 steps for me and you’re only about an inch or so shorter so the sandal lasted for a distance almost stretching from Des Moines to Omaha. Keep up the great gait work 👡HinH

[mlroseplant]

This is what shank failure looks like--for the second time. The heel was plenty tight to the sole, even after all that walking and a fourth set of heel caps. That little strip of metal is key to the structural integrity of many heels, and certainly of this model. The failure was in exactly the same spot as the last pair, and on the same shoe (the right). I am a bit surprised about that, as this pair was never subjected to trauma, as was the last pair.

I had an incident with Bonny No. 1, overstepping the bottom stair and doing violence to the heel. Bonny No. 1 didn't fail right away after that, but it was soon after at only about 50 miles. The fact that Bonny No. 2 failed in the exact same way somewhat puzzles me. Also, the fact that it was on the same foot gives me a little cause for concern. I need to examine some of my other shoes to see if perhaps I'm walking funny on that foot.

At any rate, the first picture is what happened to the heel (exaggerated for photo purposes--it wasn't actually that bad while I was walking the last tenth of a mile), the second picture is the shank of Bonny No. 2, third picture is the shank of Bonny No. 1. As you can see, they broke within 1 mm of the same spot. How weird! I'll start working on Bonny No. 3 right away, to see if there's a pattern.

[Jkrenzer]

It's the weak spot. Every mechanical thing has its weakest region based on the stresses in the part. You are fatiguing the metal with every step. Bonny no. 1 apparently had a large stress cycle that shortened its life. I'm not surprised it's on the same shoe, we all walk differently on each foot. In my case the heel tips always wear faster on my left shoe. It could also be just random, i.e. flip a coin. If it's heads the 1st time it's still 50/50 each time you flip it again that it will be heads, no pattern until it happens 3 or more times.

[Cali]

Or it could be from driving.

[Jkrenzer]

3 hours ago, Cali said:

Or it could be from driving.

 No real physical loading driving, engineer response after scientists comment. Yuk Y uk

[Cali]

Uneven loading on the heel and torque from changing from gas pedal to brake pedal.  I can feel and see this on some of my heels from driving.  And 99%+ of the time I'm driving in heels.  (Experimental based science.)

What is unknown is the condition of the shank in the left heels.  Do they show stress or not.

[mlroseplant]

On 7/23/2022 at 5:49 AM, Jkrenzer said:

It's the weak spot. Every mechanical thing has its weakest region based on the stresses in the part. You are fatiguing the metal with every step. Bonny no. 1 apparently had a large stress cycle that shortened its life. I'm not surprised it's on the same shoe, we all walk differently on each foot. In my case the heel tips always wear faster on my left shoe. It could also be just random, i.e. flip a coin. If it's heads the 1st time it's still 50/50 each time you flip it again that it will be heads, no pattern until it happens 3 or more times.

We're working on No. 3 right now, but it's going to take a while to wear the new ones to failure. 116 miles sounds kind of impressive, but it took me about two years to do that. I do have other shoes, after all, and I'm lazy.

18 hours ago, Cali said:

Or it could be from driving.

 

15 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

 No real physical loading driving, engineer response after scientists comment. Yuk Y uk

 

13 hours ago, Cali said:

Uneven loading on the heel and torque from changing from gas pedal to brake pedal.  I can feel and see this on some of my heels from driving.  And 99%+ of the time I'm driving in heels.  (Experimental based science.)

What is unknown is the condition of the shank in the left heels.  Do they show stress or not.

I'll go ahead and put this to rest. I didn't drive in these shoes. I'm not saying it never happened, but certainly not enough to make any difference, even if we assume that the act of driving somehow made a difference. To answer the other question, I did, in fact, tear apart the left shoe on Bonny No. 2, just to see, and there was no visual sign of damage to the shank. Not that there wasn't damage, but I don't have instruments to measure it. I did have a little fun playing with the heels to see just how important that little metal strip is for keeping everything in place as it should be. Bonny No. 3 feels much more solid under my feet, so I'm guessing that even the left on Bonny No. 2 was flexing more than when new.

Ships still sometimes break in half at sea, so I suppose it's a bit much to expect a mass produced silly fashion item to last indefinitely.

Edited July 24, 2022 by mlroseplant
Clarity

[mlroseplant]

Time for the latest installment of Farmer's Market Outfit Of The Week. I try not to repeat too often, but I'm sure it happens. I know I've worn the Michael Kors tan wedges before, the shorts before, and the olive t-shirt many, many times. So even if this is not a repeat, it's close.

It was a beautiful even here in central Iowa last night. Low 80s for temperatures to start off, a good breeze, and plenty of sunshine. In fact, I want to say it's the first truly decent weather we've had all year on a Thursday night. The State Fair hasn't started yet, so the people came. And they came, and they came, and they came. By my estimation, we sold about 750 egg rolls last night. Once again, my outfit and shoes did not seem to negatively affect business.

Despite my lack of time to do anything, I got three comments. One from a six year old girl early on who pointed out to her mother that I was wearing high heels. And that's it. Either it was that uninteresting, or the mother shushed the daughter hurriedly. I didn't actually hear any shushing, but I was kind of busy at the time. Number Two was from a customer, a woman about my age who asked the usual question of how I can work in those heels. We had a short conversation about heels during our financial and culinary transaction. She said she actually still did wear heels for special occasions, but she said she could only do about THAT high (held her fingers about 2 1/2 inches apart). My wedges are 4 1/2 with small platform, making them right at about 4 inches steep.

Number Three was when I was going to fetch my car from a nearby street so we could load up and go home. Two college age girls were walking behind me somewhat when I heard one of the shout out something. I didn't pay that much attention, but evidently she was yelling at me. What I finally was able to discern was, "You look fierce" and "I like your shoes." I thanked her and her friend, and went on my way. Both were very attractive young ladies, and both were smiling. I sure didn't feel fierce, I felt like I just got run over by a truck, but whatever.

I must be gaining some stamina, because the last time I wore these shoes, the balls of my feet felt quite uncomfortable by the end of the night. This time, they were just slightly ragged, and now the next morning I can hardly tell I stood in 4 inch heels for nearly six hours.

[Jkrenzer]

750, crazy.

You must get many repeat customers plus I'm guessing people are aware of the high heel man. It's all good.

[mlroseplant]

Here is my church OOTW. I seem to do the blue thing in slightly different permutations on a fairly regular basis, and here is what I came up with this week. FSJ blue mules, Buffalo pants (Costco), polo shirt from Vietnam.

The only notable thing that happened today is when I was getting out of the car after coming back home. As I was unloading my stuff, a wasp started harassing me. I had a bass case in one hand, and my bucket full of music/equipment in the other. I wound up stabbing the top of my foot with my own stiletto heel. That felt awesome. At least I didn't get stung.

[Jkrenzer]

Superb look. Really love the mules and color grouping. You could use my powder blue slings. I think I'll wear them today at work inspired by your look.

[SF]

Nice sandals...  I love summertime!!  smile   sf

[p1ng74]

Ouch.  This is one thing I like about wearing boots all year, they are great for stomping on red wasps in the summer... 

[mlroseplant]

I really wouldn't mind wasps all that much, but why do they have to be so angry? If they would just mellow out a little bit, I probably wouldn't kill them every chance I get.