Wellingtons!

Status
Not open for further replies.

Dollywagon

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 9, 2006
Messages
1,028
Reaction score
141
I know that I am directing this question at a mainly US audience, but should Wellington boots be a capital W?

I am writing a childrens story and my spell checker keeps putting in a capital W, presumably because it is a name, but should it actually be in lower case because I am describing footwear?

I think our wellies are your galoshes by the way.
 

alleycat

Still around
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 18, 2005
Messages
72,873
Reaction score
12,224
Location
Tennessee
It stays Wellingtons. The term is used in the US for a type of plain boot which are similar to cowboy boots, but they are not the same as galoshes.

ac
 

Sandi LeFaucheur

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 26, 2006
Messages
823
Reaction score
142
Location
Orangeville, Canada
Website
www.sandilefaucheur.com
It's Wellington boots, but wellingtons or wellies. They were named after the first Duke of Wellington. So the decisive factor seems to be whether you're following Wellington with boots, or just referring to them as wellingtons.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
Dollywagon said:
I know that I am directing this question at a mainly US audience, but should Wellington boots be a capital W?

I am writing a childrens story and my spell checker keeps putting in a capital W, presumably because it is a name, but should it actually be in lower case because I am describing footwear?

I think our wellies are your galoshes by the way.


Is Wellinton a brand name? If so, it would demand a capital regardless. But since is is a proper name, teh capital has to stay.

I think Wellinton boots are more like our cowboy boots thna like galoshes. At least, all the Wellington I've seen in teh US are very close to clowboy boots, and, in fact, are most often sold by teh same stores that sell cowboy boots.

Over here, galoshes are made of rubber, and Wellingtons are made of leather.
 

Sandi LeFaucheur

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 26, 2006
Messages
823
Reaction score
142
Location
Orangeville, Canada
Website
www.sandilefaucheur.com
Wellington boots are made of rubber. They now come in bright colours, but used to be black, or if you were very sporty, sort of olive green. They have a thin layer of fabric bonded on the inside. Nothing quite like the smell of a cloakroom full of old wellies and macs (raincoats). Mac, by the way, is short for Macintosh, the name of the person who invented rubberized cloth. But I digress. Look at Paddington Bear. His yellow boots are wellies.

Welly can also be used in another sense: to give it some welly--meaning to use effort. Or to give someone some welly--a kicking. (not so nice)

Here ends our lesson for today.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
Sandi LeFaucheur said:
Wellington boots are made of rubber. They now come in bright colours, but used to be black, or if you were very sporty, sort of olive green. They have a thin layer of fabric bonded on the inside. Nothing quite like the smell of a cloakroom full of old wellies and macs (raincoats). Mac, by the way, is short for Macintosh, the name of the person who invented rubberized cloth. But I digress. Look at Paddington Bear. His yellow boots are wellies.

Welly can also be used in another sense: to give it some welly--meaning to use effort. Or to give someone some welly--a kicking. (not so nice)

Here ends our lesson for today.



I wonder if Wellington boots are usually made of leather in the US because they're patterned after the original Wellingtons, which were made of calfskin?
 

Dollywagon

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 9, 2006
Messages
1,028
Reaction score
141
Ooooh!

I think my real problem came when the second word I used was 'sandwich'.

Now Wellingtons I could just about bear with a capital because they are supposed to be named after the Duke of Wellington, but sandwiches are so-called because they are named after the Earl of Sandwich.

I threw myself into a tizz!

And I always thought that galoshes were the US version of our wellies and never knew there was leather footwear that carried the wellington name in the US.

I'll go now......!
 

pdr

Banned
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
4,259
Reaction score
832
Location
Home - but for how long?
Just to add.

The original Wellington boot was indeed leather and copied the Duke's special design. I think it was Hobbes of London who first made them for him.

How they were transformed to the good old farmers' outdoor waterproof boot and then adopted by everyone because they are so useful I don't know. Or why the Duke of Wellington's name should be attached to them still. He was a bit of a dandy and would not, I'm sure, have approved of the sloppy fit and naff smell of good old wellies or gumboots! His original boots were made to measure, fitting tightly to the calf, and would take a valet's strenuous efforts to remove them. Unlike our beloved wellies.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
pdr said:
The original Wellington boot was indeed leather and copied the Duke's special design. I think it was Hobbes of London who first made them for him.

How they were transformed to the good old farmers' outdoor waterproof boot and then adopted by everyone because they are so useful I don't know. Or why the Duke of Wellington's name should be attached to them still. He was a bit of a dandy and would not, I'm sure, have approved of the sloppy fit and naff smell of good old wellies or gumboots! His original boots were made to measure, fitting tightly to the calf, and would take a valet's strenuous efforts to remove them. Unlike our beloved wellies.

There's a good article on how rubber Wellingtons came about on wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington_boot
 

Tish Davidson

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
1,626
Reaction score
110
Wellingtons, at least in the US equestrian world, are tall rubber pull-on boots that you wear for working around the stable and mucking out stalls, not for riding. They aren't leather.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
Tish Davidson said:
Wellingtons, at least in the US equestrian world, are tall rubber pull-on boots that you wear for working around the stable and mucking out stalls, not for riding. They aren't leather.



Yes, and they're also short, lace up rubber boots used by farmer's in the US, and they're also leather cowboy type boots with a walking heel. But in all honesty, everytime I see anything made in the US actually labelled "Wellington," thay have been leather. I own a couple of pair right now. I did own a pair of Wellington boots made by Wolverine, and they, too, were leather.

And if you really shop around, you can get leather Wellinton's in teh US that are exact copies of the original leather Wellington boot.
 

Doctor Shifty

Press Any Key
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2006
Messages
332
Reaction score
53
Location
Newcastle, Oz
Website
www.users.tpg.com.au
Dollywagon said:
Now Wellingtons I could just about bear with a capital because they are supposed to be named after the Duke of Wellington, but sandwiches are so-called because they are named after the Earl of Sandwich.


And I always thought that galoshes were the US version of our wellies and never knew there was leather footwear that carried the wellington name in the US.

I'll go now......!

I sometimes wonder what would have happenen if the Earl of Sandwich had been cold and the Earl of Cardigan had been hungry. :)

And wellies here in Oz are also called gumboots. Galoshes are the shoe version. When we lived in the UK for a while my wife had red wellies, I had green wellies, and our son had blue wellies. Here in Oz you can have them any colour you like as long as it's black.

Kim
 

Doctor Shifty

Press Any Key
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2006
Messages
332
Reaction score
53
Location
Newcastle, Oz
Website
www.users.tpg.com.au
Doctor Shifty said:
I sometimes wonder what would have happenen if the Earl of Sandwich had been cold and the Earl of Cardigan had been hungry. :)

Kim

OK, I'm going to have another bite of the Cardigan sandwich here. :)

The cardigan connection is compounded by the fact that the Earl of Cardigan was the bloke who sent the Charge of the Light Brigade to destruction.
Where? At Balaclava.
And who was Cardigan's commander? Lord Raglan.

These guys must have been knitting freaks. :)

Kim

... knit one, pearl two, knit one, pearl two, cast off ...
 

pdr

Banned
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
4,259
Reaction score
832
Location
Home - but for how long?
Not sure but...

Darn it, without my reference books and no, I don't like on-line references because they often mislead.

BUT I think Raglan and Cardigan were turned into knitting terms and garments because one or both of the idiots had arm injuries and they wore specially made (just for them) knitted jackets to keep them warm and cope with the dud arm. Sleeves then were usually square set but a raglan sleeve has a long sloping inset seam making it easy to put on and wear with a dud arm.
 

Carmy

Banned
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
1,654
Reaction score
119
No, wellingtons should not be capitalized. Think about it - do you capitalize 'cardigan' as in "I'm wearing a cardigan to keep warm."

Spellcheck may be coming up with a capital because of Wellington in NZ, as well as Wellington himself. So wellingtons (rubber boots) shouldn't be capitalized any more than 'shoes' should.

Carmy
 

Dollywagon

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 9, 2006
Messages
1,028
Reaction score
141
Well it's too late now...the story went off on Tuesday.

Anyhow I went for the non capital version. I fought off spell-checker and won!
 

Gary

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 23, 2006
Messages
968
Reaction score
153
Location
East Texas
As someone who got his first pair of wellingtons around 1957, I can assure you the American usage of the name was for a flat-heeled, black leather boot with a round toe. We commonly referred to them as "stomping boots" because that's what the teen gangs of the time wore to a rumble (fight).

I guess I never grew up, since I still have a pair, though they are now called "ropers", a generic term that covers several similar styles.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
Carmy said:
No, wellingtons should not be capitalized. Think about it - do you capitalize 'cardigan' as in "I'm wearing a cardigan to keep warm."

Spellcheck may be coming up with a capital because of Wellington in NZ, as well as Wellington himself. So wellingtons (rubber boots) shouldn't be capitalized any more than 'shoes' should.

Carmy

You're right, if the names are used in the generic, as in "shoes" or "sweaters."
But if you mean in any way to show that the person "Wellington" or "Cardigan" had anything to do with the boot or the sweater, you need to capitalize the name. Generic use gets no capital, but the person's name as a name always does.

The real question is, are you wearing a cardigan sweater, or are you wearing a Cardigan sweater? Are you wearing wellingtons, meaning any one of a hundred different designs by who knows how many makers, or are you actually wearing Wellington boots of the type designed by Wellington.

Generic gets no capital, specific does.
 

Sandi LeFaucheur

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 26, 2006
Messages
823
Reaction score
142
Location
Orangeville, Canada
Website
www.sandilefaucheur.com
If we stick to the good old English terms: wellies, cardies, and sarnies we can't go wrong, can we?
icon7.gif
 
Status
Not open for further replies.