Where Does the Term “Bootleg” Come From?
In the current English vernacular, the term “bootleg” is an all-encompassing word. If you illegally record a movie in a theater, that’s bootlegging (as a verb). If you sell a copy of that illegally recorded movie, the tangible copy is a bootleg (as a noun). Recording a musician’s live performance? Even if you don’t sell or distribute it in any way, that’s considered a “bootleg.” The word also has historical uses: during Prohibition, to steal or make your own alcohol was to bootleg it. We have even incorporated it into American football, for some reason. But try to step back and look at the word without the context we’ve given it, where it now is basically a synonym for both “steal” and “stolen goods”. What does the long part of a boot have to do with dabbling in illegal, unauthorized, unregulated activity? Let’s find out. The answer is quite simple and direct, actually. When cowboys roamed the land, most of them wore tall boots that, as the name suggests, came equipped with ample bootl
