On 6/21/2011 8:30 AM, Alain wrote:

>>>> Apparently my native language is not English...
>>>
>>> Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
>>
>> ...an expression I've only ever seen in computer documentation as an
>> explanation for why it's called "booting".
>
> Same thing here. I've never, ever, seen that expression in any
> non-computer related context. Ever!
Ah, well, I will just put on my readies and run out to find an example! 
Note - Not sure what 'readies' is, nor did most Americans in like the 
1850s or so, when Mark Twain quoted some Brit he was with, in a hotel, 
during some mess involving a cat on the roof, making noise, the Brit 
being nearly naked, and his subsequent slip and slide, into a diner 
party, from said roof. The comment was, "If I had put on some readies, I 
would have got that cat.", roughly (not the exact quote).

Apparently, someone, when the phrase "booting" was come up with, was 
still using the word. Same with "readies", in the context of.. shoes 
maybe, in Twain's time... lol

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