Name: English Tutor Nick P Word Origins (38) Bootlegging
Uploaded: 2019-05-08T13:57:19.000Z
Duration: 3 min 57 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Word Origins 38. The word origin today is

bootlegging or you know to bootleg something.  Let's take a look at the note.

Nowadays,  you know,  in our modern time,  nowadays bootlegging is the act of

making or selling things illegally,  especially music,  movies and alcohol. So

how would it be with the music ? Maybe if somebody went into an actual concert and

actually taped the concert. Or today maybe even filmed the concert illegally,

without permission and then was able to make copies of it and resell it. That

would be called.. that would be referred to as bootlegs or bootleg copies they were

done illegally. The same thing with the movies you know,  you've probably seen

this before or heard of this. Somebody snuck into a movie theater when the

movie first came out and they were hiding there and filming the movie while

they're watching the movie and then they,  they use that copy.

I don't know, nowadays when we get through the Internet or before maybe

they made fake copies of it and resold it. So that would also be under

bootlegging and of course alcohol. We know that alcohol was also connected to

bootlegging,  especially in the old days we're going to.. we're going to get to that.

During prohibition you know,  people made alcohol illegally. All right. So let's

continue here. So the origin of this term goes back to cowboy days you know,

originally. That's the idea when Cowboys used to hide many things in their high

boots. Yeah you've often seen this in cowboy movies,  where they hide something

in their high boots. They pull a knife or small gun or sometimes they have what we

call here a flask of whiskey. So such as weapons or flask of whiskey. You know,  that

like metal tin,  metal can they kind of open it and they drink it down. So they might

have had some whiskey with him.  I don't know just in case I guess they got

thirsty or they needed whiskey. Or remember in those days whiskey or

alcohol was also used kind of as a disinfectant too. So if you got a cut or

something.  sometimes you see that somebody in these

old cowboy movies they get a bullet they're going to burn it

or something they put some ... they put some of the alcohol on it too. So it's better than

nothing in those days. So especially whisky ... All right.  Let's continue. The term

itself became popular during the days of prohibition. Yeah.  I remember I know it's

so hard to believe now that was it no was about,  about a 10 or 11 year period

there around the night early 1920s.  Or around that time where alcohol was

actually illegal in the US. So there was a lot of black market people selling

alcohol on the black market . I think eventually they considered it was just

too much trouble and created too much crime.

it was easier to just make alcohol legal again because you know the amount of

alcoholics is such a small percentage that that if that's a smaller problem

than trying to keep alcohol illegal. All right. And you know , you know,  the way it

goes. Once once you make something illegal people want it more. All

right. So let's continue. During this period one of the main ways to smuggle

alcohol was to hide a flask of whiskey in your boots. So this is where the idea

of bootlegging came from .  I guess you would hid the flask of whiskey or the flask of

alcohol in your boot.  So that was a way to transport it. So this is where the

term comes from. This is why we say bootlegging you know,  people will think

what does that have to do with illegal things ? Well,  now you know. That's where it

came from. In your boot,  especially a  high,  high boot or high boots. Yes. Okay.  Anyway,

I hope you got it. I hope  it was informative. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for your