I'm trying to prove a point. Without looking it up, what are these?

Aglet. Thanks Phineas and Ferb!

Don't forget it
Terraria for me
- Terraria made me think they were some sort of instrument because of how it looked.

I'm too old to know what Phineas and Ferb is, but when I was young I used to love knowing obscure words like:

The indent between your upper lip and your nose is called the philtrum (more commonly known now because of piercings
The recess on the bottom of a wine bottle is called a punt.
The infinity symbol (like a sideways 8) is a lemniscate
The cap on the pointy end of an umbrella, or any other tubular thing (including a pencil) is called a ferrule
The space between your eyebrows is your glabella

Etc. Anyway, aglet was one of those. I was always so happy when I had an opportunity to use one ("Oh, man, my aglet broke!").

And the infinity symbol is likely related to the analemma, the shape the sun traces out over the course of a year.
The cardboard ring around a coffee cup is called a Zarf
But are you old enough to remember Tom Cruise discussing them in the film Cocktail? (in the cinema on the original release‽ )
- Well, it came out when I was 26, but I don't think I saw it.
Another fun one: the # symbol is an octothorpe
These are awesome! Thanks

Aglets.

Aglets, and it’s 100% due to Phineas and Ferb

A-G-L-E-T
- Don't forget it!

Telomeres for your shoestrings

I like you

Aglet. Not Phineas & Ferb. Terraria.

I personally don't know what they're called but to my cat that's called food.

Aglet. Thanks phineas and ferb!

I got it from simpsons lol

Aglets. Terraria my beloved.

Aglet - phineas and ferb

Aglet. Another shout-out to Phineas and Ferb.

Aglet. Archie comics did a bit on them, that's where I learned

Aglets

Aglet - Jimmy Neutron

Easy. The 80s and older crowd will know this from some inherent eldritch knowledge or have no idea. But everyone else will know this from Jimmy Neutron.
scrolling through the comments, seeing Phineas and Ferb everywhere

I'm only in my mid twenties. Y'all need to stop making me feel old.

I know it from an Archie comic I read in the 90's
I know it from Justice League Unlimited.

https://youtu.be/QkEBvqaXXHc
I watched Jimmy Neutron, but I guess I never saw (or maybe just never processed) that episode.

Shoes.

Shoes, with the Aglets of the laces resting upon them.

Aglets.

And their true purpose is sinister.

What's their true purpose?
- THAT is... The Question. https://youtu.be/QkEBvqaXXHc

🎶 A, G, L, E, T, Aglets! Don't forget it 🎶

^^^One word at a time^^^

OP, they’re obviously called aglets.

Didn’t Phineas and Ferb teach you anything?

Exactly the point I'm trying to prove 😉

What, the shoes?

Aglets. Learned that from Phineas and Ferb.

You wanna maybe use a red circle mate?

I knew a kid once who said when he grew up that he wanted to be the guy that puts the aglets on shoelaces.

I don't know what ever happened to him, but I like to think he found his calling in shoe plastics.

Ferrule

Ferrule is the round metal thing the aglet goes through

A picture of a shoe, with laces, which have plastic aglets on the ends.

Ceci n'est pas une aglet
- C'est deux aglets.

I believe there was a book in the 80s called Sniglets that made up words for things and this was one of them. I didn't remember what it was called. Any or all of this memory could be wrong.

All words are made up
- Most of them were not made up recently, and in a book of words made up for that book.

Aglets. Their true purpose is sinister.

I misremembered it as eglet, and I probably learned it from uncle John's bathroom reader because I am old.

Whoa, hold on now... I'm not old, and I shit through atleast 4 edition's of Uncle John's bathroom readers in my pre and early teens
Lol I thought it was oglet. We were so close!

Shoes? Maybe Reeboks?

Edit: I am appalled by how many people know the term aglet.

This is the result I was hoping for

Aglets.

Laces.

Sneakers.

I only know they are aglets thanks to "Repossessed!" Fantastic spoof of The Exorcist with Leslie Neilson and Linda Blair (from the original). Blair played Nancy Aglet and fought possession again. They made a joke about her name that got the word weirdly stuck in my brain. "We've tried everything the devil hates. Sex, drugs, rock and roll..."

(during a wrestling match between the priest and the possessed woman)
"You know, Mean Gene, professional wrestlers don't use steroids anymore!"
"Or any LESS!"
Not the reasoning I would have expected, but interesting nonetheless
Saw a post here recently about a 'reverse exorcism,' in which the devil tries to get the priest out of the child.
- Oh my... lol. Not sure if I could handle that one, maybe as a gag bit in a larger comedy/parody...

Aglets

Aglets, if you’re talking about the ends on the laces, and please update why you’re asking lol

My thinking is that the aglet is a well known word these days, but if you were to poll a group, it would be mostly younger people who know what it is. Because of Phineas and Ferb.

I'm glad so many people responded and most people got it right! But, I'll have to do a real poll to figure out if there's any actual correlation here, and also account for the fact that people who know what it is were more likely to answer than those who don't.

These are Aglets. I didn't look it up, i watched Phineas & Ferb as a child.

They're aglets. I believe Phineas and Ferb is a cartoon, but I've never seen it.

Lace tips??

Aglets. Can't remember where I learned the word.

Their true purpose is sinister.

Plastic thingies on laces

I was gonna say "tongle dongles"

Points for creativity

Shoe string condoms.

laced shoes on a white surface and beside one shiny metal tube (or bar)

It is a bar, but specifically the things on the tips of the shoelace
- I didn't know the answer (Aglets) neither in English nor in my first language. I believe you are compiling results (?).