the.com/skates
the only footwear that turns standing still into a full-body negotiation with physics
means Skates are wheeled or bladed devices strapped to or built into footwear that let you glide across ice or hard ground.
from From the Dutch 'schaats,' itself borrowed from an Old French word 'eschasse' meaning 'stilt' or 'leg-support' — the Dutch took it, applied it to their ice-gliding blades, and English sailors and traders carried it home. Curiously, English speakers misread the Dutch 'schaats' as already plural and lopped off a supposed 's,' giving us the singular 'skate' — a back-formation that means the word we now treat as basic is really a misunderstanding wearing two boots.
- ancient origin
- first skates were sharpened animal bones strapped to feet
- flat fish
- skates are also cartilaginous rays with winglike fins
- frozen finland
- bone skates date back over 4,000 years there
- speed record
- skaters exceed 35 miles per hour on ice
- egg cases
- skate egg pouches wash ashore as mermaid's purses
roller derby — competitive sport where teams on quad skates race and block, with leagues like wftda having hundreds of teams worldwide
speed skating — olympic sport since 1960 where athletes on ice skates race distances from 500m to 10km
figure skating — olympic sport since 1908 featuring jumps, spins, and choreography on ice skates
skateboarding — olympic sport since 2020 where athletes perform tricks on wheeled boards, distinct from traditional skates