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Green’s Dictionary of Slang

gutties n.

[SE gutta-percha, a tree (Isonaudra Gutta) the juice of which is used in their manufacture]

(Irish) plimsolls, trainers.

c.1915		in I Opie (ed.) The Singing Game (1988) ‘We are three wee Glasgae molls, / We can let you see, An’ if you hate the one wee moll / Ye’ll hate the heart of three. / Flashy dashy Twelve an' a tanner's gutty boots, / And a’m a gallus moll.
1950		L.W. Peat Grandma Did It This Way 144: ‘Growing nicely — indeed they are,’ said the shoeman, referring to us and the new pairs of ‘gutties’ Grandma was buying for us.
1952		M.F. Caulfield Black City 170: He held up the dirty gutties, poking a finger through the crepe sole.
1970		B. Moore Fergus 25: Staring mistily at the sneakers which his father called ‘gutties’.
1985		AUUGN Jan. 33: Cable-car from the ski-lodge (Snowbird) to the top of a mountain (11000ft), slither around in T-shirt and gutties.
1986		Magill Aug. n.p.: I was interviewed by about four detectives [...] My watch, my gutties (shoes) and a few bob in my pocket was taken [BS].
1994		Maurice Hayes Sweet Killough Let Go your Anchor 11: My father [...] confessed that he had been playing football in gutties at a base camp called Deolali in India.
2001		G. Coughlan Everyday Eng. and Sl. 🌐 Gutties (n): trainers, sports shoes.
2009		J. Mallaghan Knitter 62: Maggie had tried to get over the problem by dying John's gutties light blue.
2020		G. Armstrong Young Team `14: ‘Mate, ye couldnae catch us in they old chunky gutties’.

In phrases

sink the gutties (v.)

(Irish) to drive very fast, i.e. to push one’s plimsoll-clad foot down on the accelerator.

1997

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