Meaning
A cheap canvas-and-rubber plimsoll or sneaker — the plain, low-cost shoe that generations of Jamaican children wore to school, for sports, and around the yard. Affordable and hard-wearing, the bally was the everyday shoe of the ordinary child, contrasted with a pair of prized 'Clarks' or 'crepe' shoes. A nostalgic emblem of a modest childhood.
Examples
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Wi did wear bally to school, not no fancy shoes.
We wore cheap canvas shoes to school, no fancy ones.
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Him run pon di field inna him bally.
He ran on the field in his plimsolls.
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A new pair a bally fi di school term.
A new pair of canvas shoes for the school term.
Origin
A Jamaican name for the cheap canvas/rubber plimsoll. See [[clarks]], [[crepe]].
How it’s used
A cheap canvas plimsoll/sneaker; the everyday school shoe. See [[clarks]], [[crepe]].