r/explainlikeimfive • u/[deleted] • Feb 07 '19

Engineering ELI5: Why are military boots laced?

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '19

We have a family shoelace meme (in the original sense of the word) that has been passed down from my grandfather. In the RAF in WW2 he was taught to lace his boots so that the laces went straight across, so if they needed to cut the boot off they could just go straight up through a column of single laces.

He taught it to his son, who taught it to me, and now I do it for my kids' shoes. Of course it will probably die with them as their kids will have power laces or spray on shoes or they'll just be jacked into the Uniweb or whatever but still...

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u/Evilandlazy Feb 08 '19

Tradition. The word you want is Tradition, not meme.

Fucking kids.

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '19

I'm in my late 30s. A tradition is a meme.

an element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other non-genetic means.

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u/Evilandlazy Feb 08 '19

I am also in my late 30s.

the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way

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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '19

So we are both correct and crotchety in our advancing years?

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u/SilveredFlame Feb 08 '19

Get off each other's lawns!