دمپایی

What it means

دمپایی (dampâyi) “slippers, flip-flops” are open, slip-on footwear worn without socks. The word covers both the soft indoor slippers and the plastic or rubber sandals used in the bathroom and near water. Compared with رو فرشی (ru-farshi), which is specifically the cozy indoor slipper, dampâyi is the broader, more everyday word and is the one people reach for to describe bathroom and yard slippers.

How to use it

• دمپایی‌تو بپوش، سرده (dampâyi-to bepush, sard-e) “put your slippers on, it is cold”
• دمپایی حمام کجاست؟ (dampâyi-ye hammum kojâst?) “where are the bathroom slippers?”
• با دمپایی نیا تو (bâ dampâyi nayâ tu) “do not come in with the (outdoor) slippers”
• دمپایی‌م پاره شد (dampâyi-m pâre shod) “my slipper tore”

Cultural note

Because Iranian bathrooms often have a wet floor, a dedicated pair of plastic dampâyi sits by the bathroom door and is worn only in there. It is also the classic thing a parent threatens to throw, جا کفشی or دمپایی, a half-joking image of household discipline that many Iranians grew up with.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab