Friday Funnies

May has gone by quickly and before it's gone, here's the final Friday Funnies of the month.

It's all about boots or at least some connections with the word. 

These shown below were made for walking, they were definitely not on the ground. I can't recall exactly where the photo was taken, but it was while we were stuck in traffic and this truck was next to our car.

Boots outside a truck window (never saw the person)

While, I could have just have included the photo, instead, I did some online sleuthing about how the word, boots, has been used in some common phrases, a song and film.

Boot refers to a military recruit originating in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, where recruits were trained in "boot camps" during the Spanish-American War and wore leggings or boots. (The U.S. Army uses the term Basic Combat Training (BCT) to train recruits called privates.)

Boots on the ground usually refers to the presence of military personnel in a combat zone. But, its most common usage is for individuals or teams physically present in a location and involved in a specific project. 

In the music world, These Boots Are Made for Walking is a 1966 hit song recorded by singer Nancy Sinatra and written by country singer and composer Lee Hazlewood. In it, a woman lets her boyfriend that she won't be pushed around. It reached No. 1 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and in the UK Singles Chart. Ironically, the title came from a line spoken by Nancy's father, Frank, in the 1963 comedy-western, 4 for Texas, which went: They tell me them boots ain't built for walkin'. Ironic, even if not exactly in the same context.

To die with your boots on often evokes images of soldiers dying in battle or cowboys killed in gun battles or hanged, which originated from 19th century frontier towns in the American West. It's also been used in various forms such as the 1941 film, They Died With Their Boots On, a fictionalized biography of General George Custer with the improbable choice of Australian-American actor Errol Flynn as Custer. 

Boot Hill is associated with cemeteries, especially in the American West as those who died violent deaths often buried with their boots on. 

To give someone the boot (UK informal) as in to remove someone or to be dismissed (fired) usually from a job. This could be the phrase most folks have used at one time or another. 

Here's a few more associations with the word — boot up (start a PC), car boot (trunk), boot sales (selling events), boot-cut (trousers type), boot tree (holds boots), Denver boot (wheel clamp), walking boot (medical device).

Please feel free to add some you know, as some folks already have done, thank you.

And, you are most welcome for my not including a link to Ms Sinatra's tune (not a favorite).

And, now, it's time to boot off (is that even a term?)

Four sculptors working in Nashua this week

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

Closing ceremonies for Nashua International Sculpture Symposium on Saturday