Charlie's Sneaker FAQ and Glossary - P

This FAQ and Glossary defines a number of terms used in regards to athletic shoes, Charlie, or sneakers.

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Paria: A wilderness area and river in the Western United States that straddles the border of Utah and Arizona. Probably the naming inspiration for the Nike Air Paria hiking boot.

Pebax: A trademark for a polyether block amine (PEBA) plastic resin manufactured by the Arkema Group, a diversified chemical manufacturer. Frequently used for the outsoles of cleated athletic shoes, particularly those sold by adidas and Puma. Also used in some Nike Shox styles.

PF: See "Posture Foundation".

PF Flyers: A brand of sneakers that are now mainly of historic interest. At one time, made by B. F. Goodrich. Advertised as making their wearer "Run Faster... Jump Higher." Their sneaker division later on merged with Converse.. Mainly of interest to those watching the movie "The Sandlot." The "PF Flyers" name has been around a few times since the Baby Boomers were kids.

1962: PF Flyers were made by Hood.
1971: Converse bought the Goodrich athletic shoe brands.
- Converse soon after spun off the PF Flyers brand to settle a Department of Justice complaint they were monopolizing the sneaker market (such as it was) of that day. Converse kept the Jack Purcell line for their own.
1991: LJO, Inc. buys rights to the PF Flyers name and produced some product under the name... but they looked like a canvas Reebok Freestyle.
2001: New Balance buys rights to the PF Flyers brand.
2003: New PF Flyers products (updated with New Balance's ABZORB technology) are rolling out to the stores!

Phylon: Nike's brand name for compression-molded EVA.

Physical Education: Also known as gym class. A part of modern education in the United States and many other countries. It gives brain-damaged football players one class they can do well at. Excess locker-room horseplay may result in Physical Education turning into a track meet.

Physical Training: Gym class in the United Kingdom. Equally horrible on either side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Pink Chucks: One of the many colors of Chucks... but one of the ones that gets attention. When Converse didn't have these available, desperate readers resorted to using pink liquid embroidery ink on white Chucks to obtain the desired color.

Plimsoll: In the United Kingdom, a term for old-fashioned canvas sneakers, not widely seen any more. The ribbing on a Plimsoll bears a resemblance to the legal load markings (Plimsoll lines) painted on ships. Most sneakers in the United Kingdom are now referred to as "trainers."

Poliyou: A trademarked insole material used by ASICS in many of their athletic shoes.

Polyurethane: A plastic made of polymerized urethane. Used to contain the inert gas in the Nike AIR system. Also used as a midsole cushioning material; it is stiffer than EVA.

PONY: An athletic shoe brand that was popular in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The rights to the Pony brand went through several changes over the years. The latest brand owner was attempting a return to the market in 2002.

Posture Foundation: The term used to describe the midsole (usually abbreviated "PF") of the original "PF Flyers" sneakers.

Pot Leaf: A frequently heard nickname for the Trefoil logo used by adidas on certain of their classic products, including the Shell Toes styles. The adidas marketing department probably wishes Baby Boomers would stop thinking this, particularly when their teenagers want new sneakers.

POWER: Trade name used by the Bata Shoe Organization for their athletic shoes. During the 1960's and 1970's, the Bata Shoe Organization used the "Bata" name on their athletic shoes; no more.

Presto: A lightweight running shoe from Nike, part of the Alpha Project. Nike says it is "like a T-shirt for the feet." Yes, they are extremely comfortable. However, I (Charlie) think an athletic shoe should be more like a jock for the feet... even a pair of Air Deschütz sport sandals seem more stable.

Pro-KEDS: A canvas basketball sneaker (for men) manufactured by the Keds Corporation. They are roughly comparable to Chucks, but there are a number of detail styling differences. From what Baby Boomers have told me about their teenage years in the United States, there were differing regional preferences for either Chucks or Pro-KEDS. I (Charlie) only occasionally saw them as our old school basketball team was always in Chucks except for one year in adidas Superstar shoes; only once did I specifically notice an opposing player wearing Pro-Keds.

Promodel: The high-top model of the classic adidas "Shell Toes" sneakers. (Compare to "Superstar.")

Pronation

The tendency encountered by some runners to have their feet roll inward while running. In this case, their running shoes need to have motion control features.

PVC

Polymerized vinyl chloride. A type of plastic resin sometimes used in athletic shoes.

PU

An abbreviation for "polyurethane."
An unpleasant odor: such as sneakers that have been worn without socks.

Puma

A brand of sneakers. Their name and logo come from the cat of the same name. The stripe down the side is known as a formstrip. Extremely popular with Baby Boomers but not one of the first-line brands now, at least not in the United States. Interestingly enough, Puma was started by Rudolf Dassler, whose brother Adi founded adidas.

Puma [buying hard-to-find styles]

Many hard-to-find Puma styles can be purchased by mail order from Classic Sports Shoes.

Puma California

A retro style from Puma named for the state of California. Given the proverbial laid-back nature of California, however, shouldn't it be a sport sandal?

Puma States

According to one of my readers Down Under, this is what people call the Puma Clyde sneaker in Australia.

Pump, The

An inflatable athletic shoe technology marketed by Reebok. Described in US Patent 5113599.

"Pump Up, Air Out"

Advertising slogan for The Reebok Pump that made a slam at Nike AIR. Given the current market prevalence of the two technologies (lots of AIR, very few PUMP styles to be seen), it looks like the pump has run dry...

Purcell, Jack

Canadian badminton (Jack also played tennis) player of the 1930's. His namesake sneakers are sometimes referred to as "Jacks." Anyway, they're now a fun retro style marketed by Converse.

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Last Updated: 29 March 2008 22:59

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READERS PLEASE NOTE: Names of athletic shoe manufacturers, shoe styles, and technologies may be trademarked by the manufacturers. Charlie's Sneaker Pages uses these names solely to describe the shoes with the same familiar nomenclature used by the manufacturer and recognized by the reader.