The Salad Days, or, When A Thong Was A Thong

When I was a poker-faced and dubious robot child in 1980s Iowa, I called flip-flops “thongs”, and so did everybody else. Even the smash poet Gallagher called flip-flops “thongs.” These days, however, thongs are scandalous, uncomfortable unmentionables; they are not footwear. I have come to terms with this modern distinction. But have the others? I fear I shall never know.