Word suggestion

[Tacitus]

It appears that the word "bootleg" has not yet been mooted for treatment. We all know roughly what it means - contraband transport of a controlled pleasurable substance usually alcoholic. Hiding something in a boot looks fairly obvious, but boots of a size appropriate ? Hardly since the Pirates of the Caribbean surely. The boot of a car ( trunk of an auto for American readers ) ? Very 'limey' and as far as I know the expression 'bootleg' is 1920's US prohibition in provenance. Any ideas ?

[Slava]

My gut reaction is to say that it really does refer to what could be brought back in the leg of a boot. Remember, it didn't take a quart to get people fuzzy back then. A shot or two of good hooch and we were fine and dandy. Then we moved on to the 3-martini lunch, and so on. In reading modern literature, though, I'm quite surprised to see how quickly people get squiffy. A half-glass of wine is often enough to get the hero/ine plastered. A bit much, or too little, if you ask me.

We also have to remember that when "bootlegging" came to be, the amounts involved were much smaller, not only because we drank less, but the market wasn't there. The fancy stuff was reserved for the fancy folks, not the servants and "others."

[LukeJavan8]

We have a number of tunnels from the river up through
the bluffs for transport of prohibited liquor back in
the day. They are closed and probably caved in by now,
but as a child I remember being warned to stay out of
the 'bootleg caves'.

[Slava]

Quite a coincidence, but Smithsonian Magazine has this month an article on Prohibition and the man who made it all happen. It doesn't cover bootlegging much, but as it ties in with the concept, some may find it of interest.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-a ... -Taps.html

[LukeJavan8]

Yes, I read it. Good.

[Stargzer]

bootleg
1889, Amer.Eng. slang, from the trick of concealing something (originally a flask of liquor) down the leg of a high boot.

[LukeJavan8]

http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/search/word,bootleg
(1928 Noah Webster)

BOOT'LEG, n. [boot and leg.] Leather cutout for the leg of a boot.


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