stocking/stockinged feet

I went out into the garden early this dry and sunny morning with no
shoes on, only to discover there'd been a heavy dew overnight. Very
uncomfortable.

The usual way of describing such an activity is (for me, at least)
"in my stockinged feet", which suddenly struck my British ear as an
anachronism since men in the UK don't (often) wear stockings.
Yet "in my socked feet" is clearly unidiomatic.

Checking my desk dictionary (Collins) revealed a reference
only to "stocking feet" and google gives about 4:1 stocking:stockinged.
I know we've visited the dropping of the "d" in these circumstances
many times before, but I have to admit that "stocking feet" sounds
decidedly odd to me. Perhaps I just need to get out more.

Philip Eden


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: stocking/stockinged feet
    ... only to discover there'd been a heavy dew overnight. ... "in my stockinged feet", which suddenly struck my British ear as an ... When I read "with no shoes on", I assumed that you had no socks on either. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: stocking/stockinged feet
    ... shoes on, only to discover there'd been a heavy dew overnight. ... "in my stockinged feet", which suddenly struck my British ear as an ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: stocking/stockinged feet
    ... only to discover there'd been a heavy dew overnight. ... "in my stockinged feet", which suddenly struck my British ear as an ... I'm guessing that "socks" is a far more recent ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: stocking/stockinged feet
    ... only to discover there'd been a heavy dew overnight. ... Most people with shoes on are stockinged, ... my stockinged feet" doesn't make sense. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: stocking/stockinged feet
    ... shoes on, only to discover there'd been a heavy dew overnight. ... They're stocking feet at the mannequin dealer. ...
    (alt.usage.english)