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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

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.)

This week’s comments
AWADmail 708

Next week’s theme
Words from mythology
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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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