Toe jam
Posted by R. Berg on May 28, 2008 at 19:02
In Reply to: Toe jams posted by Smokey Stover on May 28, 2008 at 15:48:
: : Where did the phrase "toe jams" come from? I know what it means.
: If you know what toe jam means, I needn't tell you that it is the dirt that collects between your toes, and can develop an unpleasant odor. But some others may be curious.
: The Oxford English Dictionary cites, as its earliest example, a quotation from 1934, by Roy Campbell, s South African poet who lived extensively in England, in a book of memoirs ("Broken Record").
Between toes? I understood "toe jam" as the dirt, plus sloughed-off skin cells and whatever else is there, that collects under the edges of toenails. Dirt between toes is easily washed off. That other stuff is more persistent. ~rb