Quote Originally Posted by Woodsheal View Post
(Question: does anyone know why Scottish shoes came to be called "ghillies"? A ghillie is a person; a servant to a laird, chief, or chieftain...)
What I was told (when I passed along your links- on another forum) was that "ghillie brogues" means "men's shoes," by one how studies Gaelic. As I am NOT a Gaelic speaker (which I was), I don't know if that's correct. However, if so, I could EASILY see how a non-Gaelic speaker would shorten "ghillie brogue" into "ghillie" and not know what a STUPID think they were saying. I didn't when I heard the term. Now it is in my habits and I KNOW BETTER, but still do it sometimes. I SHOULD say "brogues" and "cuarans," but people just look at me with BLANK stares (JUST like when I say "cadadh"- tartan hose made of material cut and sewn on the bias/diagonal).