Bootstrap makes Oxford dictionary listing

Filed in archive Bootstrapper News on July 2, 2008

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 6106651


The term "bootstrap" has made the 11th edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary according to this article from Telegraph.co.uk.

The newspaper reports the new dictionary edition defines bootstrap as a:

start up (an Internet-based business or other enterprise) with minimal financial resources.

Bootstrapping makes the new edition along with listings and definitions for a variety of other new words including:

• muffin top - roll of fat visible above the top of a pair of women's tight-fitting low-waisted trousers.

• custard cream - a biscuit with a vanilla-flavoured cream filling.

• fascinator - a light, decorative woman's headpiece consisting typically of feathers, flowers, beads, etc. attached to a comb or hairclip.

• botnet - network of private computers infected with malicious software and controlled as a group without the owners' knowledge, e.g. to send spam messages.

• cosplay - dressing up as a character from a film, book, etc.

Congratulations, bootstrappers. We've arrived!

Although some might debate whether the lean business startup technique is mainly for Internet companies, it's clear the term and the unique entrepreneur culture it defines are finally on the map and part of the public consciousness.