What Does It Mean To Be A Boot Licker In #ALpolitics, And Who Are They?

Various styles of “cavalier” boots, which are also called “thigh high” boots, from which the term “bootlegger” is believed to have originated. Note the boot’s high shaft which extends to, and often over the knee, and the widening taper to accommodate the thigh’s size & shape. The style originated in Spain with early cowboys, and was entirely one of functional design, then later took upon a fashionable trend among the well-to-do, moneyed nobility class.
Background image is oil on panel, dimensions 9.8 x 7.5 inches (25x19cm), entitled
“A Guardroom Interior,”
c.1630 by Jacob Duck (1600-1667), a Dutch painter whom specialized in such guardroom images and contemporary period paintings.

To be certain,
it’s NOT “boot liquor,”
which in a sense could be
(or perhaps has been)
morphed into bootlegger,
which is a person who
illegally sells liquor.
The term itself derived from
the practice of
hiding a flask of liquor
in a
high-legged boot.

But to be certain,
the term
“boot licker”
is a
derogatory term
used to describe
someone whom is
obsequious.

“Obsequious”

is an adjective which refers to the behavior, or character of anyone whom is “obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.” As Merriam-Webster.com says of the word, it means “showing or characterized by extreme compliance or abject obedience.”

Synonymous words include:
• abject
• beggarly
• complacent
• compliant
• cringing
• deferential
• fawning
• flattering
• ingratiating
• menial
• obeisant
• oily
• prostrate
• respectful
• servile
• slavish
• spineless
• subject
• submissive
• subordinate
• subservient
• unctuous
• parasitic
• sneaking
• brownnosing
• compliable
• crouching
• enslaved
• kowtowing
• parasitical
• sniveling
• stipendiary
• sycophantic

It is that last word – sycophantic – upon which I wish to focus.

Sycophantic an adjective which refers to the behavior of “a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage.” Dictionary.com says it means to refer to someone whom is “a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite.”

The top definition of sycophant on UrbanDictionary.com says sycophant means “an ass kisser,” while another definition of the same word on the same site says “False idol worshiper, money grubbing, ass kissing, dirt bags who think they’re better than other people when they’re actually the scum of the earth.”

Etymolology is the study of the history of words, their origin, derivation, and use. Online Etymology Dictionary shows this about the origin, derivation and use of the word ‘sycophant.’

Online Etymology Dictionary shows this for the word “sycophant.”

It may be of interest to note also, that the history of the word includes symbolic reference to “vagina”  or “vulva.”

In today’s prevalent and widely understood, albeit somewhat vulgar vernacular, we would say “pussy.”

And by extension, it would mean one who is “NOT a man,” someone who is NOT characterized by the behavior or actions of most men, or even the average man. In fact, it would mean TOTALLY unmanly… kinda’ like the surgical sexual transformation undergone by the former 1976 Olympic decathlon gold medal winner Bruce Jenner-to-Caitlyn Jenner.

Now, the point being is not to delve into the type of thinking of one does about themselves (though perhaps it bears some degree of cursory, or perfunctory examination), but rather, to illustrate that the understood corollary to sycophant would be ‘someone who is NOT a man.’ And therefore, someone who is NOT a man would not do what a man would do – they would NOT act like a man, behave like a man, or think like a man.

And to be clear, when we refer to a “man,” we are talking about a male who has matured physically, emotionally, mentally/psychologically, sexually and spiritually – for to be merely an “adult” is by no means an indication of full maturity, save, perhaps for chronologically.

The Apostle Paul put it this way when he wrote his first letter to the Church at Corinth:

“When I was a child,
I talked like a child,
I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man,
I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

Among parents, child experts, medical professionals, and others, there is little disagreement about the characteristically defining hallmarks of childhood. Like every other thing in life, children develop in stages, there is a development process toward maturity – it’s not instantaneous – and it takes time, along with the patient, loving interaction with parents and others to be perfected.

Some of those hallmarks include first, physical development-such as ability to respond to others’ presence, lift the head, independently move all four limbs, turn over, eat with minimal or no assistance, stand, walk, and run; then comes cognitive development-the ability to mimic speech, then understand what is being spoken, conversation and inquiry, followed by deductive reasoning, rationality, independence, and expressions of love, including patience, forgiveness, sharing, tolerance, understanding, self-discipline, and good judgment.

Everyone understands and knows those steps all come in sequential order, for there has never been any newborn who can perform integral calculus, or run a marathon. Sometimes, there are steps and stages of development which for some may be abbreviated, or for others stunted, which in the latter case may signify physiological damage, either neural, muscular, skeletal, or combination thereof.

But with children whose developmental progress is fully intact, we expect them to exhibit mastery of every level of development, and to surpass them moving toward the pinnacle of adulthood – where finer growth and development in the expressions of love, mastery of spirituality, and selflessness are exemplified as the highest achievements of humanity.

Whenever someone has a self-seeking, unnaturally selfish interest in themselves, we identify that as a fault, or character flaw, and to the extent of the intensity, repetition or gross nature of the flaw, we may frequently characterize it as a defect of mental health. Narcissism, for example, is an obsessively unnatural and unhealthy interest in oneself, including to the point of autoeroticism. It is also characterized by shamelessness, magical thinking, arrogance, envy, a sense of entitlement, exploitation of others, and a poor sense of interpersonal and social boundaries. Moreover, the overriding and central theme in narcissism is selfishness – self-centeredness, and self-seeking to the virtual exclusion of others.

Veritably, it is a puerile and childish behavior.

When observed by others, such behavior may also be called obsequiousness, and the one so exhibiting such behavior may also be called a sycophant.

At it’s root, sycophancy is an infantile means to get what one wants. And we all want love, encouragement and acceptance. To the extent that someone is unable to obtain any of those fundamental emotional psycho-social/spiritual needs met, they may become servile, obeisant, sneaky, manipulative, and ultimately, sycophantic.

Again, sycophancy is not a hallmark of maturity of any level of development, and is rather, a characteristic of someone with stunted psychological and emotional development.