shoehorn

WOTD – 11 April 2008    

English

Wikipedia

A metal shoehorn.

Etymology

shoe +‎ horn

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈʃuːˌhɔː(ɹ)n/, X-SAMPA: /"Su%hO:(r\)n/
• (US) IPA: /ˈʃuːˌhɔɹn/, X-SAMPA: /"Su:%hOr\n/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

shoehorn (plural shoehorns)

1. A tool used to assist putting the foot into a shoe by sliding the heel in.
2. (derogatory) Anything by which a transaction is facilitated; a medium.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Spectator to this entry?)

3. (obsolete) Anything which draws on or allures; an inducement.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Beaumont and Flanders to this entry?)

Translations

tool used to assist the foot

• Arabic: قَرْن (qarn) m
• Belarusian: ражок (be) (ražók) m 
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鞋拔子 (cmn) (xiébázǐ)

• Czech: lžíce na boty (cs) f
• Danish: skohorn (da) n
• Dutch: schoenlepel (nl) m
• Esperanto: ŝukorno (eo)
• Finnish: kenkälusikka (fi)
• French: chausse-pied (fr) m
• German: Schuhanzieher (de) m, Schuhlöffel (de) m
• Hungarian: cipőhúzó (hu), cipőkanál (hu)
• Icelandic: skóhorn (is) n

• Italian: calzascarpe (it) m, calzatoio, corno da scarpa (or just corno), calzante (it) m
• Japanese: 靴篦 靴べら (くつべら, kutsubera)
• Polish: łyżka do butów (pl) f
• Portuguese: calçadeira (pt) f
• Romanian: încălțător de pantofi n
• Russian: рожок (ru) (rožók) m 
• Spanish: calzador (es) m
• Swedish: skohorn (sv) n
• Turkish: ayakkabı çekeceği (tr)
• Ukrainian: ріжок (uk) (rižók) m 
• Welsh: sesbin (cy) m, siasbi (cy) m, siesbin (cy) m

Verb

shoehorn (third-person singular simple present shoehorns, present participle shoehorning, simple past and past participle shoehorned)

1. (literally) To use a shoehorn.
2. (transitive) To force (something) into (a tight space); to squeeze (something) into (a schedule, etc); to exert great effort to insert or include (something).

   I shoehorned his dozen burgeoning bags into the backseat of my tiny car, and off we went.

   His staff want to shoehorn an extra stop into his already packed campaigning schedule.

   • 2012, The Economist, Oct 13th 2012 issue, Italian politics: Who will be Italy’s next prime minister?

     A member of Mr Monti’s government admitted that, barring a hung parliament, it was impossible for the moment to see how Mr Monti could be shoehorned into politics after next spring.

Translations

to use a shoehorn

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 用鞋拔子 (cmn) (yòngxiébázǐ)

• Dutch: een schoenlepel gebruiken (nl)
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: ein Schuhlöffel benutzen (de)

• Italian: calzare (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: calçar (pt) com (pt) calçadeira (pt)
• Russian: использовать рожок (ru) (ispólzovat' rožók) 
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can
• Swedish: tränga (sv), knö (sv), tvinga (sv), klämma in (sv)

to exert great effort to insert or include something

• Dutch: proppen (nl), persen (nl)
• Russian: втиснуть (ru) (vtísnut') , впихнуть (ru) (vpihnút') 

• Spanish: encajar (es), enchufar (es)