Talk:boot

I really dislike the "Etymology 1,2,..." headings I've seen in a few articles. Especially when there are headings with no etymology! Real dictionaries don't number them. They just put the entries one after the other with unnumbered etymologies for each. Why can't we do it that way? I don't mind if a writer is pretty sure that different meanings have different etymologies but doesn't actually know them. How about putting an unnumbered Etymology heading with say (etymology needed) below in such rare cases? Hippietrail 02:08, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Erm, I've seen real dictionaries (I forget whether Webster's, OED or both) add super or subscripts to the headwords, each comprising a set of senses from the same etymology. E.g., lie¹ as in lie down, lie² as in tell a lie. In fact, you can see this one on dictionary.com.

This kind of numbering is better than "Etymology 1". The reason it suits print dictionaries better than Wiktionary is because real dictionaries are made by proffessional lexicographers and editors who seldom make mistakes. We have a lot more naive contributors and senses already become out of synch with sense numbers. Adding etymology numbers doesn't sound like a step forward.

I agree. I would recommend lumping together everything but "car trunk", with a note that the computing senses are derived from bootstrap (which see). I wouldn't go so far as to treat boot like stamp for postage stamp as the usage has diverged.

I agree, however, that it's annoying to have three supposed etymologies with no actual etymologies. My experience is that most apparent homonyms actually share the same etymology, though it might take a bit of doing to explain. For example, it looks to me like bank (money) and bank (river) are ultimately cognate. In this case, though, I'm curious to know how boot meaning "trunk of car" originated at all. -dmh 04:17, 8 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Yes this is the worse part and I agree about the shared etymolgies. They should be devided by their senses, not by some assumed-to-be-different etymology. I have no idea about the origin of the "trunk" sense either but it should be in the OED and the Macquarie. — Hippietrail 05:40, 8 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I've certainly heard it both from an Aussie (I think in the same car trip where I couldn't figure out what "Indicate!!" meant, but I knew on my own I needed to signal :-). And of course I've heard it in London. It's surprising how much car terminology differs: boot/trunk, bonnet/hood, tyre/tire, and I forget what else. Isn't there a different word for fender? -dmh 14:42, 8 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Computing

Is “to forcibly remove (from a chatroom)” really a different use of the word than “to forcibly remove (in general)”?
Billnyethefrenchfry (talk) 22:21, 7 January 2024 (UTC)

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The use of the word "boot" in computing is something totally different than what is described on the page, which is simply wrong. I have been on IRC for over ten years and I have never heard anyone say ONCE that he was "booted" from a channel. The only verb used is to kick. Maybe that expression is used by very small communities, but it has definitely not wide-spread use. The correct use means starting a system. --194.251.240.117 09:57, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

It was defined as a colloquiall word, so I will let it be there, though. I will add the actual meaning of the word. Feel free to supplement. --194.251.240.117 10:01, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

I have requested verification for this sense Wiktionary:Requests_for_verification#boot. Since it's uncommon and "kick" is the standard expression, I think any usage in this sense can be covered by the more general "forcibly eject" sense. Kappa 10:25, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

I just went around IRC asking if people had heard the phrase "I was booted from the channel" used, and one person said that he had sometime heard it (outside of IRC), which suggests that it is used but not much (maybe at specific chatrooms where it has gotten a status of a popular saying). 194.251.240.117 10:28, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

This entry has survived Wiktionary's verification process.

Please do not re-nominate for verification without comprehensive reasons for doing so.

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I agree with the person on the talk page that "kicked" is the only common expression for ejecting someone from a chatroom. Kappa 10:22, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

I also agree. However, it is very clear that the problem would exist if the article hadn't been split up by User:Ncik against consensus, with absolutely no discussion on the talk page (where the topic is discussed at length.) The result to the bogus etymology splits and recominations is that strange things (like this) that would have otherwise been caught easily are now made hard to refute. --Connel MacKenzie T C 07:19, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

I strongly disagree. I've heard "booted" since at least 1998 -- search Google for "IRC Booted" (no quotes) and you'll get almost 300K hits. kurl 02:26, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

I also found at least four Google Books references, again searching for IRC booted kurl 02:33, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

I saw The Hacker Diaries and Online. Where are the other two? Do you need help formatting these citations?

I would, yeah, I'm new here. I actually only found 3 -- apologies. kurl 00:41, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Cites added. --Connel MacKenzie T C 07:33, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

I maintain that the anti-consensus etymology split is still problematic for this entry in many ways. --Connel MacKenzie T C 18:04, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

In my personal experiences, as well as in a quick google [1], it appears that "to boot" is commonly applied to chat rooms. –Gunslinger47 05:44, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

rfvpassed. Andrew massyn 08:31, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

A missing meaning

I don't have time to write this up formally, so forgive the informality. But it seems to me that a meaning of major import is missing, namely the verb "to start up a computer operating system" (well, something like that). We're all taught that this derives from "pulling itself up by its bootstraps". Anyway, "to boot" and (if you are unfortunate) "to do a boot" or "reboot" are very common. Surely they should be added??? 217.34.55.151 20:11, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

They're in the entry already. Scroll down. They're under a separate etymology. Equinox ◑ 20:13, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Oh yes, sorry for the distraction. I thought it was a strange omission. 217.34.55.151 17:59, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Confused etymologies?

At present, the sense of "to bootstrap" is mentioned both under etymology header 1 and under number 2. ... \Mike 11:15, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

Compartment in a car.

By extension, can it be used for the luggage compartment in a coach, or the storage area in the front of a Beetle? - Paul W — This comment was unsigned.

Thanks for asking. That would be consistent with its older usage. I have added 2 older senses that were in Websters 1913 that give historical uses. DCDuring TALK 15:21, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

Etymology

In the sense of the noun meaning plunder, this seems to actually come from the same as booty, and not the same as the German Buße. I'm pretty sure this meaning should be under another etymology, since the meaning of plunder does not seem to correspond at all to the meaning of the word it is currently listed under, but it fits perfectly as a synonym of booty. 72.160.200.85 11:02, 10 January 2015 (UTC)