My wife, from colorado, says shaps. I’m from Virginia and say chaps.
Was raised in SW PA, spent ~5 yrs in MD/VA around DC, moved to NY in both eastern and western and always heard chaps. Never heard shaps till this thread came up. 
I can solve this:
When DH & I went trailriding in Molera State Forest (N CA) the guide called them Shotguns.
As opposed, I imagined, to the batwing chaps cowboys wear.
I say chaps like chapstick. I’ve never even heard of “shaps” as a pronunciation before? I’m from PA.
This thread has blown my mind. I never had any conceptualisation about a) the potential to pronounce it other than “ch” or b) where the term comes from. Wow, thanks. I kinda want to start saying “shaps” now but I would get some weird looks around here! I would have looked hard at someone who said “shaps” before this thread, though. Huh.
It’s pronounced shaps here too, and shotguns is sometimes used as well.
Yep, we have our own way of saying things here - ‘furriners’…er…out of area people…always mispronounce Saskatchewan and Regina; we slur the former to (roughly) Sask-At-chew’n and Regina has a long I rather than the long E. A town in the SE is named Bienfait but is pronounced Been Fate and there are dozens of other place names that get massacred by people who didn’t grow up around here.
just finished reading Bill Brysons “The Mother Tongue ; English and How It Got That Way”
a fun read about the history of English and how regional dialect and pronunciations evolved in different regions of the US and England.
I grew up in Seattle and knew Chaps as shaps. The word evolves from the same Spanish root word as Chaparral. Anyone old enough heard that word said weekly on TV
High Chaparral
I think it’s interesting that those of us that say “shaps” are aware that some people pronounce it CHaps, but those of you that do say chaps aren’t aware of the shaps pronunciation.
Shotguns vs Batwings…
And then there are chinks!
The first time I heard anyone say “shaps” was when I listened to Justice O’Connor read her autobiography on audiobook. So the Supreme Court has spoken (not to mention a real-life Arizona cowgirl) - shaps it is. 
But being a coca-cola cowgirl from South Carolina, I say “chaps.”
Wandering a bit OT, but I never knew “mecate” was pronounced “McCarty” till I went to my first Buck Brannaman clinic. :lol:
Being a southerner, I love it when people think folks from other parts of the country talk funny.
[QUOTE=CDE Driver;7651056]
I think it’s interesting that those of us that say “shaps” are aware that some people pronounce it CHaps, but those of you that do say chaps aren’t aware of the shaps pronunciation.
Shotguns vs Batwings…
And then there are chinks![/QUOTE]
Yep, SHaps here, and I remmeber calling them “shaps” in the 70s when we had Morgans and they made me ride western. I think my shaps were kelly green too!
And at my first Buck clinic I had no idea what the McCarty thing was he talked about, he said someone had a nice one? Took a lot of Googling for this English riding gal to figure it out :lol:
Vaqueros wear chinks.
[URL=“http://www.buckaroogear.com/about.asp#.U7bLyrFWr2o”]http://www.buckaroogear.com/about.asp#.U7bLyrFWr2o
[QUOTE=CDE Driver;7651056]
Shotguns vs Batwings…
And then there are chinks![/QUOTE]
But…do you say chinks or shinks? :lol:
I learned shaps and the vaqueros at the next door barn called them shappas. But was aware some called them chaps because of the eastern tourists that also ordered ah-VA-cadoo salads…
Wait what? Ah-VA-cadoo?
AHVAH-cahdoh.
ahvah-CAHDOH?
I showed western nearly all my life - mostly west of the Mississippi. It’s shaps.
However, it’s been my experience that English riders call them chaps and western riders call them shaps. I think western riders should have the call because they started with them first! English riders made up “chaps” all on their own because they didn’t know any better! :lol:
Maybe it’s the English influence… jolly old chap and all that! :lol:
Unabashed word geek here…
Grew up in Arizona, where we said “shaps.” In the midwest, you hear it both ways, but I still say “shaps.”
The word chaps is from the spanish chaparajos or chaparejos, both meaning chaps, and modifications of the word chaparreras (meaning chaps), from chaparro (dwarf oak tree). All of the spanish words are pronounced with “sh” rather than “ch.”
Probably more than you ever wanted to know…!
When I moved to Vermont I saw Chinese goulash on a menu and thought, ok, Chinese veg and sauce type thing sounds good for lunch.
Imagine my surprise when I was served elbow noodles with tomato sauce and ground beef!
And when I asked if I had the right food, the waiter was highly offended at my question.
Chinks don’t go all the way down. Different animal. They flair at the bottom but the bottom stops where the top of a tall boot would be. Sort of like half chaps but the top half not the bottom and are loose fitting. Actually look very much like what many farriers wear.
Shotguns encase the whole leg hip to ankle and are tight all the way. Bat wings are looser fitting and flair below the knee.
Im sure that’s TMI but it is interesting to hear the regional variations.
They gave you Hamburger Helper and called it Chinese Goulash?
Oh we know findeight, it’s just that most of the Vaqueros wear chinks (CHinks not SHinks) although Buck does wear chaps (SHaps).
Chaps and half chaps. never heard shaps
