Brogue means both a shoe and an accent — English colonizers linked Irish footwear to Irish speech, and the decorative holes in modern brogues were originally bog-drainage openings.
A strong outdoor shoe with ornamental perforated patterns. Also a marked regional accent, especially Irish or Scottish English.
From Irish and Scottish Gaelic bróg (shoe), from Old Norse brók (leg covering, trouser). The accent meaning may derive from the idea of speech shaped by the tongue as a shoe shapes the foot, or from the association of crude shoes with rural Irish speakers Key roots: bróg (Irish Gaelic: "shoe"), brók (Old Norse: "leg covering, trouser").
The word brogue means both a type of shoe and a type of accent — and the two meanings are connected through Irish history. The original brogues were rough, unlined cowhide shoes worn by Irish and Scottish rural people. English colonizers used 'brogue' dismissively for the Irish accent, linking the crude footwear to the speech of its wearers. The holes in modern decorative brogues are