Peter Duncanson [BrE] wrote:

> On Tue, 21 Dec 2021 15:41:49 -0600, Jack <quiasmox@yahoo.com> wrote:

>>On Tue, 21 Dec 2021 12:46:48 -0800 (PST), bruce bowser
>><bruce2bowser@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>On Tuesday, June 23, 1992 at 1:01:52 AM UTC-4, Steven Malikoff wrote:
>>>> pl...@Ra.MsState.Edu (patrick lane parker) writes:
>>>> : I was curious as to the origin of the word gumshoe.
>>>> : does anyone here know?
>>>> :
>>>> : pat
>>>> Hmmm.. (assume we are talking about *shoes* here, and not the brand name
>>>> of anything!)
>>>> ..could it have something to do with the materials they were made
>>>> from? I'm pretty sure that gutta-percha (?sp) may have been used for the
>>>> soles, and as this is a rubber substance then this seems quite possible for
>>>> the 'gum' in the name.
>>>> Steve.
>>>> ste...@syacus.acus.oz.au (no silly disclaimers.)
>>>
>>>That's true. Its named after a type of shoe brand. Even though you hear phrases like: "good old fashioned gumshoe detective work".
>>
>>Etymonline agrees:
>>
>>gumshoe (n.)
>>"plainclothes detective," 1906, from the rubber-soled shoes they wore
>>(allowing stealthy movement), which were so called from 1863 (gums
>>"rubber shoes" is attested by 1859); from gum (n.1) + shoe

> OED:

> gumshoe n. U.S.
> (a) (in plural) goloshes: cf. gumboots n.;
> (b) figurative (U.S. colloquial), used attributively to describe
> something done stealthily; hence, a detective.

> gumshoe v. colloquial (originally U.S.) intransitive to move or act
> with stealth as if wearing gumshoes.

____________________

1922 [Ire] Joyce Ulysses 403: Any brollies or gumboots in the fambly?

Gifford identifies "brollies or gumboots" as rhyming slang for "breasts or bums;"

this paper's gloss is "umbrellas or rainboots," which has the great advantage of making sense.