Gumshoe: Why Detectives Were Named After Their Shoes
Summary: Quiet soles made for quiet pursuit—then it became a nickname for private eyes.
In this post:
- What “gumshoe” means and where it came from
- How people used it in the 1930s
- Modern equivalents and pop-culture examples
- Related slang to explore next
What does “gumshoe” mean?
“Gumshoe” originally referred to soft-soled shoes, then shifted to mean a detective skilled at tailing.
How it was used in the 1930s
Hardboiled fiction: “The gumshoe tailed the mark down 3rd Avenue.”
Modern equivalents
• private eye
• sleuth
• investigator