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Boots and Spurs

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on January 11, 2009 at 11:44

In Reply to: Boots and Spurs posted by Brenda O'Hearn on January 11, 2009 at 08:39:

: I'm looking for the meaning and origin of the military term "Boots and Spurs." I hope someone can help me.

It isn't a military term. In the days of horse transport you needed riding boots and spurs to make a journey on horseback, so to be "booted and spurred" meant to be dressed and equipped for travel, whether you were a soldier or a civilian. You may be thinking of the phrase "boot and saddle", which is an order to cavalry to get their horses ready to mount and go; it is a corruption of the French "boute selle", meaning "put on the saddle". (VSD)

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