Familiar to many of you as training camp for the military. When you join you go to Boot Camp to learn how to be a soldier. But where does that name come from?

Well, it is based on military slang that dates back to the 1890’s. Men who joined the Navy or Marines were called “boots” due the leather stockings they wore. By the 1920’s the British Army started using the term to mean any sort of training camp.

In the US however it referred to the Navy Recruit Training Center in Great Lakes, IL and the USMC Recruit Training Depots in Paris Island, SC and Sand Diego, CA.

Though it is used for other things such as a quick training session or a disciplinary camp, that is where it originally came from.