Editing Boot (section)

=== Idioms and cultural references ===
{{more citations needed section|date=May 2014}}
{{Further|bootstrapping|booting}}
* Boots that are particularly old and well worn, or a similarly tough item are referred to as being tough and strong with the phrase "tough as old boots."<ref name=Macmillan>{{cite web|title=American English Thesaurus|url=http://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus/british/tough#as-tough-as-old-boots_1|work="as tough as old boots" phrase|publisher=Macmillan Publishers Limited 2009–2012|access-date=25 January 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112135156/http://www.macmillandictionary.com/thesaurus/british/tough#as-tough-as-old-boots_1|archive-date=12 January 2012}}</ref>
* A discarded boot may be used in the construction of a [[musical instrument]] known as the ''"[[Monkey stick|mendoza]]."''
* Tall (high) boots may have a tab, loop or handle at the top known as a bootstrap, allowing one to use fingers or a tool to provide better leverage in getting the boots on. The figurative use "to pull one's self up by one's bootstraps" in the sense of "ability to perform a difficult task without external help" developed in the 19th century in US English.<ref>"It's been widely suggested that the "bootstrap" metaphor originated in the legendary tales of Baron von Münchhausen. As Chris Waigl recently pointed out on the Eggcorn Database (commenting on "boots-trap"), the original German version has a scene in which Münchhausen gets out of a swamp by pulling on his own hair. In an American retelling (supposedly), the Baron uses his bootstraps to pull himself out of a similar predicament. None of the 19th-century cites I've seen allude to the Münchhausen story -- instead, they often refer to pulling oneself over a fence or up a steeple. So if Münchhausen really pulls himself up by his bootstraps in an American version (which I have yet to verify), then the writer probably took advantage of preexisting imagery for an absurdly impossible task." Benjamin Zimmer,  American Dialect Society, 11 August 2005 - {{Cite mailing list|url=https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2005-August/052756.html|title=figurative "bootstraps" (1834)|mailing-list=listserv.linguistlist.org}}</ref> The term "bootstrapping" was subsequently used in a metaphorical sense in a number of fields, notably computing (which uses the term "[[bootup]]" to describe the process of starting a computer) and in [[entrepreneurship]], which uses the term "bootstrapping" to describe start-up companies which are launched without major external financing.
* To "die with one's boots on" means to die while one is still actively involved in work or to go down fighting. Popularized by [[Western (genre)|Wild West]] movies.<ref name=FreeDictionary>{{cite web|title=boot|url=http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/boot|publisher=The Free Dictionary, 2012 by Farlex, Inc.|access-date=26 January 2012}}</ref>
* [[wikt:Boot camp|Boot camp]]: a colloquial term for the initial [[recruit training]] of a new recruit enlisting in a [[military]] organization or armed force. In this context, a "boot" is just such a recruit.
* [[wikt:Stormtrooper|Stormtrooper]]s and other agents of authority or units used for political strongarm tactics such as intimidation are typically referred to by their detractors as "[[jackboot]]ed thugs," a reference to the hobnailed military jackboot of the World War I German [[Stormtroopers (Imperial Germany)|Stormtrooper]] and later [[Nazi uniform]]. Authoritarian rule, either by hostile military forces, or by groups of armed intimidators, is imposed by "jackboot tactics."
* To "give one the boot" means to kick one out (of a job, a club, etc.) or expel one, either literally or figuratively.
* To "put the boot in" is an idiom for inflicting violence on someone.
* "The boot is on the other foot now" means that a situation has become reversed—a previous victor is now losing, for example.
* Wearing "[[seven-league boots]]" references a classic children's [[fairy tale]] and indicates that a person or company can cover great distances, figuratively or literally, in a single stride.
* To "shake/quake in one's boots" means to be very frightened, and is mostly used sarcastically.
* "Knocking boots" is slang for having sex, regardless of whether either person is wearing boots.
* The country of [[Italy]] is referred to as "lo Stivale" ("The Boot") due to its shape.