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well cyclefreak,
I believe that the thong in question, whether speaking of sandals or underpants, is the strip of material; in the former a strip of leather(or rubber) between the toes and in the latter a strip of cloth between the buttocks.
The Online Compact OED says the following:
thong
• noun 1 a narrow strip of leather or other material, used as a fastening or as the lash of a whip. 2 a skimpy bathing garment or pair of knickers like a G-string. 3 chiefly N. Amer. another term for FLIP-FLOP (in sense 1).
— ORIGIN Old English.
Notice in definition #2 the use of the simile "like a Gstring." Definition #3 is "chiefly N. Amer."
I suppose the people at Oxford don't take Australia into account; their loss if you ask me!
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