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The term ''[[wikt:bovver|bovver]]'' in the UK developed as a [[th-fronting]] slang term (probably [[Cockney]]) for "bother", and was used in connection with [[wikt:aggro|aggro]] (aggressive behaviour) by [[skinhead]]s and [[hooliganism|hooligans]] in the late 1960s.<ref name="LocherSträssler2008">{{cite book|author1=Miriam A. Locher|author2=Jürg Strässler|title=Standards and Norms in the English Language|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=cXC6twz7tx8C&pg=PA54|accessdate=4 March 2013|date=27 August 2008|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-020698-2|pages=54}}</ref><ref name="Chambers1998">{{cite book|author=Allied Chambers|title=The Chambers Dictionary|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=pz2ORay2HWoC&pg=PA189|accessdate=4 March 2013|year=1998|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=978-81-86062-25-8|pages=189}}</ref><ref name="Thornedict2009">{{cite book|author=Tony Thorne|title=Dictionary of Contemporary Slang|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3_6oRAJSHP4C&pg=PT151|accessdate=4 March 2013|date=1 January 2009|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4081-0220-6|pages=151}}</ref><ref name="Bernstein2012">{{cite book|author=Jonathan Bernstein|title=Knickers in a Twist: A Dictionary of British Slang|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=aBKUNe_7lXkC&pg=PP12|accessdate=4 March 2013|date=30 July 2012|publisher=Canongate Books|isbn=978-0-85786-945-6|pages=12–}}</ref> Heavy [[steel-toe boot]]s were stereotypically worn by skinheads, and were termed bovver boots.<ref name="BealePartridge2004" /><ref name="Thornedict2009" /><ref name="PartridgeDalzell2008">{{cite book|author1=Eric Partridge|author2=Tom Dalzell|author3=Terry Victor|title=The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Uncoventional English|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=cCVnlIUTpg4C&pg=PA85|accessdate=4 March 2013|year=2008|publisher=Taylor & Francis Group|isbn=978-0-415-21259-5|pages=85}}</ref> Initially, heavy black [[army surplus]] boots were worn, but later, yellow-stitched [[Dr. Martens]] were adopted as the boots of choice.<ref name="Thornehundred2009">{{cite book|author=Tony Thorne|title=Jolly Wicked, Actually: 100 Words That Make Us English|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=At42rfeP3ekC&pg=PT44|accessdate=4 March 2013|date=3 December 2009|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=978-0-7481-1478-8|pages=44–45}}</ref><ref name="scotsman fracassini 2000">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18725420.html | title=A spot of bovver as DM boot factory to be closed | work=[[The Scotsman]] | date=February 3, 2000 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Fracassini, Camillo}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref><ref name="brandstrategy mortimer 2001">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-80848008.html | title=Too bootilicious for your feet: call them what you like -- Dr Martens, Doc Martens, DMs, Docs -- but very few shoes have a youth following like Doc Martens | work=Brand Strategy | date=December 1, 2001 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Mortimer, Ruth}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref><ref name="independent thompson 2012">{{cite news | url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/doc-martens-bovver-boots-aim-for-200m-7857384.html | title=Doc Martens bovver boots aim for £200m | work=[[The Independent]] | date=June 18, 2012 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Thompson, James}}</ref><ref name="people gunn 1996">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-61177939.html | title=Max hangs up his boots with £200m | work=[[The People]] | date=March 31, 1996 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Gunn, Cathy}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref> Use in [[football hooliganism]] was countered by warnings to fans that they would have to remove such boots in order to attend football matches.<ref name="birminghammail 2012">{{cite news | url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/great-games-chesterfield-2-aston-181055 | title=Great Games: Chesterfield 2 Aston Villa 3 | work=[[Birmingham Mail]] | date=March 14, 2012 | accessdate=March 4, 2013}}</ref>
The term ''[[wikt:bovver|bovver]]'' in the UK developed as a [[th-fronting]] slang term (probably [[Cockney]]) for "bother", and was used in connection with [[wikt:aggro|aggro]] (aggressive behaviour) by [[skinhead]]s and [[hooliganism|hooligans]] in the late 1960s.<ref name="LocherSträssler2008">{{cite book|author1=Miriam A. Locher|author2=Jürg Strässler|title=Standards and Norms in the English Language|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=cXC6twz7tx8C&pg=PA54|accessdate=4 March 2013|date=27 August 2008|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-020698-2|pages=54}}</ref><ref name="Chambers1998">{{cite book|author=Allied Chambers|title=The Chambers Dictionary|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=pz2ORay2HWoC&pg=PA189|accessdate=4 March 2013|year=1998|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=978-81-86062-25-8|pages=189}}</ref><ref name="Thornedict2009">{{cite book|author=Tony Thorne|title=Dictionary of Contemporary Slang|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3_6oRAJSHP4C&pg=PT151|accessdate=4 March 2013|date=1 January 2009|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4081-0220-6|pages=151}}</ref><ref name="Bernstein2012">{{cite book|author=Jonathan Bernstein|title=Knickers in a Twist: A Dictionary of British Slang|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=aBKUNe_7lXkC&pg=PP12|accessdate=4 March 2013|date=30 July 2012|publisher=Canongate Books|isbn=978-0-85786-945-6|pages=12–}}</ref> Heavy [[steel-toe boot]]s were stereotypically worn by skinheads, and were termed bovver boots.<ref name="BealePartridge2004" /><ref name="Thornedict2009" /><ref name="PartridgeDalzell2008">{{cite book|author1=Eric Partridge|author2=Tom Dalzell|author3=Terry Victor|title=The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Uncoventional English|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=cCVnlIUTpg4C&pg=PA85|accessdate=4 March 2013|year=2008|publisher=Taylor & Francis Group|isbn=978-0-415-21259-5|pages=85}}</ref> Initially, heavy black [[army surplus]] boots were worn, but later, yellow-stitched [[Dr. Martens]] were adopted as the boots of choice.<ref name="Thornehundred2009">{{cite book|author=Tony Thorne|title=Jolly Wicked, Actually: 100 Words That Make Us English|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=At42rfeP3ekC&pg=PT44|accessdate=4 March 2013|date=3 December 2009|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=978-0-7481-1478-8|pages=44–45}}</ref><ref name="scotsman fracassini 2000">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18725420.html | title=A spot of bovver as DM boot factory to be closed | work=[[The Scotsman]] | date=February 3, 2000 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Fracassini, Camillo}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref><ref name="brandstrategy mortimer 2001">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-80848008.html | title=Too bootilicious for your feet: call them what you like -- Dr Martens, Doc Martens, DMs, Docs -- but very few shoes have a youth following like Doc Martens | work=Brand Strategy | date=December 1, 2001 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Mortimer, Ruth}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref><ref name="independent thompson 2012">{{cite news | url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/doc-martens-bovver-boots-aim-for-200m-7857384.html | title=Doc Martens bovver boots aim for £200m | work=[[The Independent]] | date=June 18, 2012 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Thompson, James}}</ref><ref name="people gunn 1996">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-61177939.html | title=Max hangs up his boots with £200m | work=[[The People]] | date=March 31, 1996 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Gunn, Cathy}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref> Use in [[football hooliganism]] was countered by warnings to fans that they would have to remove such boots in order to attend football matches.<ref name="birminghammail 2012">{{cite news | url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/great-games-chesterfield-2-aston-181055 | title=Great Games: Chesterfield 2 Aston Villa 3 | work=[[Birmingham Mail]] | date=March 14, 2012 | accessdate=March 4, 2013}}</ref>


[[punk subculture|Punk rockers]] were seen in the 1970s to "[stamp] their bovver boots",<ref name="westernmail 2007">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-172135410.html | title=We all rebelled against the {{Sic|estabishment}} [sic] to get our teenage kicks, but has much changed? | work=[[Western Mail (Wales)|Western Mail]] | date=December 6, 2007 | accessdate=March 4, 2013}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref> with the boots being part of their "sartorial expressions of violence and disgust".<ref name="washingtonpost horyn 1992">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-988764.html | title=Harley's Roar On the Runway | work=[[The Washington Post]] | date=February 3, 1992 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Horyn, Cathy}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref> Punk rockers continued to be associated with bovver boots until the mid-1980s.<ref name="footwearnews fallon 1993">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-14124625.html | title=The doc is in | work=Footwear News | date=May 31, 1993 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Fallon, James}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref> [[Punk fashion]] and the "years of teenage boot-wearing rebellion" since the 1960s gave way to [[trainers]], with the arrival of [[Britpop]] in the mid-1990s.<ref name="guardian barton 2008">{{cite news | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jun/16/fashion.laurabarton | title=After years in the wilderness, the bovver boot is back | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=June 16, 2008 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Barton, Laura | authorlink=Laura Barton}}</ref> In 1998, UK high street chain [[Boots UK|Boots]] promoted a [[ladette]] cosmetics range with a model "dressed in combat trousers, bovver boots and goggles".<ref name="ladettes ward 1998">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-60830038.html | title=The bad ladettes; They're the girls with Geezer Power and don't give a damn who knows | work=[[Daily Mirror]] | date=May 1, 1998 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Ward, Amanda}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref>
[[punk subculture|Punk rockers]] were seen in the 1970s to "[stamp] their bovver boots",<ref name="westernmail 2007">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-172135410.html | title=We all rebelled against the {{Sic|estabishment}} to get our teenage kicks, but has much changed? | work=[[Western Mail (Wales)|Western Mail]] | date=December 6, 2007 | accessdate=March 4, 2013}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref> with the boots being part of their "sartorial expressions of violence and disgust".<ref name="washingtonpost horyn 1992">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-988764.html | title=Harley's Roar On the Runway | work=[[The Washington Post]] | date=February 3, 1992 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Horyn, Cathy}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref> Punk rockers continued to be associated with bovver boots until the mid-1980s.<ref name="footwearnews fallon 1993">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-14124625.html | title=The doc is in | work=Footwear News | date=May 31, 1993 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Fallon, James}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref> [[Punk fashion]] and the "years of teenage boot-wearing rebellion" since the 1960s gave way to [[trainers]], with the arrival of [[Britpop]] in the mid-1990s.<ref name="guardian barton 2008">{{cite news | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jun/16/fashion.laurabarton | title=After years in the wilderness, the bovver boot is back | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=June 16, 2008 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Barton, Laura | authorlink=Laura Barton}}</ref> In 1998, UK high street chain [[Boots UK|Boots]] promoted a [[ladette]] cosmetics range with a model "dressed in combat trousers, bovver boots and goggles".<ref name="ladettes ward 1998">{{cite news | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-60830038.html | title=The bad ladettes; They're the girls with Geezer Power and don't give a damn who knows | work=[[Daily Mirror]] | date=May 1, 1998 | accessdate=March 4, 2013 | author=Ward, Amanda}}{{Subscription required|via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref>


The journalist [[Laura Barton]] wrote in ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2008: "After years in the wilderness, the bovver boot is back".<ref name="Thornehundred2009" /> The journalist Karen Kay wrote in ''[[The Daily Express|The Express]]'' in 2010 that "Dr Martens boots" have been worn by [[The Clash]], [[The Cure]], [[Madness (band)|Madness]], [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]], the [[Spice Girls]], [[The Sex Pistols]], [[Avril Lavigne]] and [[Gwen Stefani]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kay|first1=Karen|title=Dr Martens: The bovver boot that became respectable|url=http://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/168088/Dr-Martens-The-bovver-boot-that-became-respectable|publisher=The Express|accessdate=18 May 2015}}</ref>
The journalist [[Laura Barton]] wrote in ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2008: "After years in the wilderness, the bovver boot is back".<ref name="Thornehundred2009" /> The journalist Karen Kay wrote in ''[[The Daily Express|The Express]]'' in 2010 that "Dr Martens boots" have been worn by [[The Clash]], [[The Cure]], [[Madness (band)|Madness]], [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]], the [[Spice Girls]], [[The Sex Pistols]], [[Avril Lavigne]] and [[Gwen Stefani]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kay|first1=Karen|title=Dr Martens: The bovver boot that became respectable|url=http://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/168088/Dr-Martens-The-bovver-boot-that-became-respectable|publisher=The Express|accessdate=18 May 2015}}</ref>

Revision as of 17:52, 17 March 2016

Bovver boot
TypeFootwear
MaterialLeather
Place of originUnited Kingdom
ManufacturerDr. Martens, Grinders, Solovair and others

A bovver boot is a type of boot that has been associated with violence. Such boots are generally of sturdy design and may be steel-toed. They have been considered as offensive weapons used by hooligans for kicking opponents while street fighting.[1][2] The boots became known in the late 1960s in the United Kingdom, and continue to be a fashion statement associated with rebellion.

History

The term bovver in the UK developed as a th-fronting slang term (probably Cockney) for "bother", and was used in connection with aggro (aggressive behaviour) by skinheads and hooligans in the late 1960s.[3][4][5][6] Heavy steel-toe boots were stereotypically worn by skinheads, and were termed bovver boots.[1][5][7] Initially, heavy black army surplus boots were worn, but later, yellow-stitched Dr. Martens were adopted as the boots of choice.[8][9][10][11][12] Use in football hooliganism was countered by warnings to fans that they would have to remove such boots in order to attend football matches.[13]

Punk rockers were seen in the 1970s to "[stamp] their bovver boots",[14] with the boots being part of their "sartorial expressions of violence and disgust".[15] Punk rockers continued to be associated with bovver boots until the mid-1980s.[16] Punk fashion and the "years of teenage boot-wearing rebellion" since the 1960s gave way to trainers, with the arrival of Britpop in the mid-1990s.[17] In 1998, UK high street chain Boots promoted a ladette cosmetics range with a model "dressed in combat trousers, bovver boots and goggles".[18]

The journalist Laura Barton wrote in The Guardian in 2008: "After years in the wilderness, the bovver boot is back".[8] The journalist Karen Kay wrote in The Express in 2010 that "Dr Martens boots" have been worn by The Clash, The Cure, Madness, Madonna, the Spice Girls, The Sex Pistols, Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani.[19]

Cultural references

References

  1. ^ a b Paul Beale; Eric Partridge (2 April 2004). Shorter Slang Dictionary. Routledge. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-203-38007-9. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  2. ^ Wordsworth Editions, Limited (1 January 2007). Concise English Dictionary. Wordsworth Editions. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-84022-497-9. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  3. ^ Miriam A. Locher; Jürg Strässler (27 August 2008). Standards and Norms in the English Language. Walter de Gruyter. p. 54. ISBN 978-3-11-020698-2. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  4. ^ Allied Chambers (1998). The Chambers Dictionary. Allied Publishers. p. 189. ISBN 978-81-86062-25-8. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  5. ^ a b Tony Thorne (1 January 2009). Dictionary of Contemporary Slang. A&C Black. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-4081-0220-6. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  6. ^ Jonathan Bernstein (30 July 2012). Knickers in a Twist: A Dictionary of British Slang. Canongate Books. pp. 12–. ISBN 978-0-85786-945-6. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  7. ^ Eric Partridge; Tom Dalzell; Terry Victor (2008). The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Uncoventional English. Taylor & Francis Group. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-415-21259-5. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  8. ^ a b c Tony Thorne (3 December 2009). Jolly Wicked, Actually: 100 Words That Make Us English. Little, Brown Book Group. pp. 44–45. ISBN 978-0-7481-1478-8. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  9. ^ Fracassini, Camillo (February 3, 2000). "A spot of bovver as DM boot factory to be closed". The Scotsman. Retrieved March 4, 2013. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  10. ^ a b Mortimer, Ruth (December 1, 2001). "Too bootilicious for your feet: call them what you like -- Dr Martens, Doc Martens, DMs, Docs -- but very few shoes have a youth following like Doc Martens". Brand Strategy. Retrieved March 4, 2013. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  11. ^ Thompson, James (June 18, 2012). "Doc Martens bovver boots aim for £200m". The Independent. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  12. ^ Gunn, Cathy (March 31, 1996). "Max hangs up his boots with £200m". The People. Retrieved March 4, 2013. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  13. ^ "Great Games: Chesterfield 2 Aston Villa 3". Birmingham Mail. March 14, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  14. ^ "We all rebelled against the estabishment [[[sic]]] to get our teenage kicks, but has much changed?". Western Mail. December 6, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2013. {{cite news}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help) – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  15. ^ Horyn, Cathy (February 3, 1992). "Harley's Roar On the Runway". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 4, 2013. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  16. ^ Fallon, James (May 31, 1993). "The doc is in". Footwear News. Retrieved March 4, 2013. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  17. ^ Barton, Laura (June 16, 2008). "After years in the wilderness, the bovver boot is back". The Guardian. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  18. ^ Ward, Amanda (May 1, 1998). "The bad ladettes; They're the girls with Geezer Power and don't give a damn who knows". Daily Mirror. Retrieved March 4, 2013. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  19. ^ Kay, Karen. "Dr Martens: The bovver boot that became respectable". The Express. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  20. ^ Cavanagh, David (February 25, 1995). "Nemesis in a scarlet dress". The Independent. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  21. ^ Young, Graham (June 29, 2000). "They're in the Army now!". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved March 4, 2013. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
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