"Tennies," Anyone?

       My wife wears her "tennies" and gets new ones when she needs them (when the tennies, that is, don't look good any longer, referring to the uppers that are visible to the world).

       But I'm the only one who plays tennis.  And I need new ones basically only when the soles have no new purchase on the court and the tread is smooth, which is invisible to all but me.

       We kid each other about who buys the most "tennies" with entirely different justifications.  (She says I do, but I also jog and think it's unfair to count those.)

       "Tennis" comes from Anglo-French tenetz (imperative form), from French tenir, "to hold."   In the early form of the game in France, the server would apparently call out to the receiver, "Hold,"  meaning "Receive."