A.Word.A.Day --bootleg

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Jan 22, 2016

This week’s theme
Clothing terms used metaphorically

This week’s words
brass hat
sackcloth
straitlaced
sansculotte
bootleg

Woman putting flask in her Russian boot, Washington, DC, 1921
(Note: This is 1921. The swastika pattern in the floor is nothing unusual -- the symbol hasn’t yet been stigmatized by its association with Hitler. See here.)

Photo: Library of Congress

This week’s comments
AWADmail 708

Next week’s theme
Words from mythology

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

bootleg

PRONUNCIATION:

(BOOT-leg)

MEANING:

verb tr., intr.: To make, sell, or transport something illegally.
noun: Something illegally made, sold, or distributed.
adjective: Made, sold, or distributed illegally.

ETYMOLOGY:

From the practice of concealing a liquor flask in the leg of a boot. Earliest documented use: 1889.

USAGE:

“I swear, every single movie he had was bootleg. I think his whole room was bootleg.”
Michelle Stimpson; Trouble in My Way; Pocket Books; 2008.

See more usage examples of bootleg in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

He who is only just is cruel. Who on earth could live were all judged justly? -Lord Byron, poet (22 Jan 1788-1824)

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