Boots!

A man decides that he wants a pet, but not just any pet, a really unusual pet. He walks into the pet store and goes up to the service assistant.'Excuse me, I want a pet, but not just any pet, a really unusual pet'. The service assistant says I have just the thing for you, it's a talking centipede'. 'Cool!' the man exclaims, 'I'll take it!'

The man takes the centipede home in his little box and places him on the kitchen table. He looks into the box and says: 'Hey centipede, what about you and me going to the pub for a beer?'The centipede doesn't answer, so the guy thinks, 'I'll just go off for five minutes and come back and ask

again. Five minutes pass and the guy returns to the centipede, 'Hey centipede,how about you and me go to the pub for a beer?' Again, the centipede doesn't answer him.

'Hmmmmm' the guy thinks to himself, 'I'll just go off and watch this TV show, come back and ask him again'. Half an hour passes and the guy returns to the centipede. 'I'll just ask him one more time' he tells himself. 'Hey centipede, how about you and me go to the pub for a beer?' The centipede looks up at the man and says, 'For fuck's sake man, I heard you the first time! I'm putting my boots on.

Boots

Cowboy coots custom made for President Harry S Truman.A boot is a type of shoe that covers at least the foot and the ankle and sometimes extends up to the knee or even the hip. Most have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece. Traditionally made of leather or rubber, modern boots are made from a variety of materials.

Hi-top athletic shoes are generally not considered boots, even though they do cover the ankle, primarily due to the absence of a distinct heel.

Boot Types and uses

A pair of "classic" black leather Doc Martens.Boots designed for protection from the elements may be made of a single closely-stitched design (using leather, rubber, canvas, or similar material) to prevent the entry of water, snow, mud or dirt through the gaps left between the laces and the tongue in other types of shoes. Simple waterproof gumboots are made in different lengths of uppers, and, in extreme cases, thigh-boots called waders, worn by anglers, end at the hip level of the wearer. Such boots may also be insulated for warmth.

Other types of boots are sturdy in nature, meant for protection in wilderness or industrial settings. Speciality boots have been made to temporarily protect steelworkers if they get caught in pools of molten metal; to protect chemical workers from a wide variety of chemical exposure; and there are insulated, inflatable, boots designed for walking in the Antarctic continent. However, most work boots are "laceups" made from leather; formerly they were usually shod with hobnails and heel- and toe-plates, but now usually with a thick rubber sole, and often with steel toecaps. Work boots (like the popular Dr. Martens) were adopted by skinheads and punks as part of their typical dress and have migrated to more mainstream fashion, including women's wear.

A woman's bootsSpecialty boots have been designed for many different types of sports, particularly riding, skiing and snowboarding, skating, and sporting in wet conditions

Fashionable boots for women may have all the variations seen in other fashion footwear: tapered or spike heels, platform soles, pointed toes, zipper closures and the like. The popularity of boots as fashion footwear ebbs and flows. They were popular in the 1960s and 1970s, but diminished in popularity towards the end of the 20th century. Today, they are becoming popular, especially designs that have a long bootleg.

Boots have their own devotees among shoe fetishists and foot fetishists. Singer Nancy Sinatra was largely responsible for popularizing the fad of women wearing boots in the late 1960s.

Boots in idiom

A pair of tall riding bootsBoots, particularly those worn as protective footwear by workers (work boots) have a reputation for being as hard-wearing as their owners, hence the commonly used simile "tough as old boots".

A long established cliché of anglers, especially those who are inexperienced or angling in waters known to be poor for fish, is that of the "old boot", caught in place of the expected fish. This can be seen in many cartoons, parodies, etc., and is usually depicted dripping with weeds and with part of the sole detached, giving the impression of an open mouth.

Another fate of a discarded boot is in the construction of a musical instrument known as the "mendoza".

Tall 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. A German legend about a boy lifting himself by his bootstraps into the air, allowing him to fly, has led to the word's metaphorical use in many different contexts, such as "to pull yourself up by your bootstraps."

To "die with one's boots on" means to die from violence as opposed to from natural causes (to "die in bed"); hence Boot Hill as a popular name for Wild West cemeteries.

Boot camp a colloquial term for the initial training of new recruits enlisting in a military organization.

Stormtroopers, skinheads, and other agents of authority or political strongarm tactics are typically referred to by their detractors as "jackbooted thugs," a reference to the tall riding or military-style boot of the Nazi uniform. Authoritarian rule, either by hostile military forces, or by groups of armed intimidators, is imposed by "jackboot tactics."

The "boot", in British English and New Zealand English, refers to the part of a car termed the "trunk" in American English.

To "give someone the boot" means to kick them out (of a job, a club, etc.), either literally or figuratively.

To "put the boot off" someone's chin

"The boot is on the other foot now" means that a situation has become reversed -- a previous victor is now losing, for example.

"Boot" also became a command in early computing, to mean starting up the computer or putting a program into the memory. It is still used today. It arose as short for "pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps".

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.

Types of boots

A type of boot can fit into more than one of these categories, and may therefore be mentioned more than once

Boots Forms

Hip boots

Knee-high boots

Thigh-high boots

Wedge boots

Boots Styles

Chelsea boots

Cowboy boots?

Go-go boots

Hessian boots

Mukluks (dry-snow boots)

Rigger boots

Vlahboots

Wellington boots

Gieka Boots

Boots Sorts

Lift boots

Shearers moccasins

Sport boots

Football boots

Hiking boots

Motorcycle boots

Engineer boots

Harness boots

Racing boots

Touring boots

Motocross boots

Motorcycle cop boots

Mountaineering boots

Riding boots

Cowboy coots

Chelsea Boots

Ski boots and Snowboard boots

Skates:

Ice skates

Figure skates

Roller skates

Inline skates

Waders (footwear)

Work boots

Australian boots

Combat boots

Hobnail boots

Jump boots (paratrooper boots)

Tanker boots

Jungle boots

Cold weather boots

Jackboots

Cowboy boots

Gumboots (mainly workwear)

Hip boots (waders or fishing boots)

Wellington boots (rubber or farmer boots)

Galoshes (overshoes)

Firefighting boots

Lineman boots

Logger boots

Rigger boots

Steel-toe boots (safety boots)

Boot Brands

Chukka boots

Doc Martens

Ugg boots

Sorel

Tony Lama

Boot accessories

Spats