# Bootlegs origin **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2000, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootlegs-origin/10837 "2000-04-22T02:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@chief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chief)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2000, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootlegs-origin/10837/1 "2000-04-22T02:34:00Z")
anyone know the origin of the term “bootlegs”? * * * Check out my site: [Chief’s Domain](http://qfg.tierranet.com) ---
**Author:** ![Donovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@Donovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donovan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2000, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootlegs-origin/10837/2 "2000-04-22T02:57:00Z")
just a guess- smuggled items (like bootleg whiskey) were hidden in bootlegs? ---
**Author:** ![Dystopos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@Dystopos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dystopos)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2000, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bootlegs-origin/10837/3 "2000-04-22T05:02:00Z")
Frome [http://www.britannica.com](http://www.britannica.com) > [@](#): > > bootlegging > > in U.S. history, illegal traffic in liquor in violation of legislative restrictions on its manufacture, sale, or transportation. The word apparently came into general use in the Midwest in the 1880s to denote the practice of concealing flasks of illicit liquor in boot tops when going to trade with Indians. The term became part of the American vocabulary when the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution effected the national prohibition of alcohol from 1920 until its repeal in 1933. the word “freebooter” however, comes from the Dutch ‘_vrijbuiter_’ meaning ‘free plunderer’ from the words ‘_vrij_’ (free) and ‘_buit_’ (‘bounty’). _Buit_ is also the origin of the English ‘booty.’