Bootleg

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Dr. Goodword
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Bootleg

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Nov 11, 2010 10:05 pm

• bootleg •


Pronunciation: but-leg • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Illegally produced and sold, as bootleg liquor or bootleg videos.

Notes: In the era of a world economy, it is difficult for a company in one country to control the production and sale of its products in other countries. The problem becomes especially acute if the product may be simply copied as easily as video and computer programs. The problem of bootleg digital products is a pressing issue for some companies today, raising our curiosity of where this odd little word came from. It may be used as a verb unchanged, to bootleg (videos) and those who bootleg are bootleggers.

In Play: In the US, this word was rescued from obscurity during Prohibition, when alcoholic beverages were outlawed and legal liquor was unobtainable. The word is still most closely associated with bootleg liquor: "When I returned from Scotland, I tried to wean my father from his old bootleg hooch to single malt Scotch, but he was too set in his ways." Today, however, the meaning is spreading into other areas of misappropriation: "Why do I think this is a bootleg video, you ask? Well, the first clue is the fact that the sound track has been dubbed in Chinese."

Word History: The leg of a boot—or bootleg—is that part of a tall boot above the instep. Today's sense of bootleg came from the era of swashbuckling boots that rose to the thighs, the tops of which could be folded down. Rolled all the way up they provided a neat compartment for concealing small items, such as jewelry, while passing through customs. So the word first emerged as a verb meaning to smuggle in a bootleg (or two). The meaning eventually dissolved into smuggling anything anyway and, when men began wearing tighter boots, to what it means to day. (We won't have to bootleg our gratitude to Anita Cary for suggesting today's Good Word since it is perfectly legal at this point.)
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Slava
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Re: BOOTLEG

Postby Slava » Mon Aug 16, 2021 6:59 am

Now, in 2021, we have the Bootleg Fire, a huge raging forest fire, named after a place near where it started, Bootleg Spring. Why the spring is so named, I haven't been able to find out. I expect it to be because that's where a bootlegger got his water.

https://www.thefocus.news/culture/bootleg-fire-meaning/

Here are some fun place-names I came across while looking for bootleg: http://www.webtrail.com/applegate/names.shtml
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bbeeton
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Re: BOOTLEG

Postby bbeeton » Mon Aug 16, 2021 8:22 pm

The Oregon place names that Slava cites do have interesting histories, I'm reminded of the name of a road in Maryland near where I grew up: Rolling Road, which was so named because that's the road used for rolling hogsheads of tobacco to the port so that they could be shipped off.

Another road: Whiskey Bottom Road, no doubt related to the key word.

And along that line, a favorite exhibit at the Washington Monument State Park in western Maryland is a pot still either once used by a bootlegger or copied from one. Unlike the original, its contents recycle, so no samples. And, oh, that park is also the site of the first monument in the U.S. built to honor George Washington. That's *built*, not just announced, which is the one in D.C. This little stone monument resembles a milk bottle, and the stairs inside lead up to a viewing station from which one can enjoy the delightful vistas surrounding it. (Good moonshine country.)

David Myer
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Re: BOOTLEG

Postby David Myer » Tue Aug 17, 2021 7:23 am

Thanks Slava and bbeeton for tose interesting observation.

Not sure it is strictly relevant, but I did enjoy this street name on my last visit to UK (in the days when international travel was the go)
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