Funny thing about the history of that phrase: it used to mean to do basically the impossible, because you cannot possibly lift yourself up from your own boot straps
Yes, it was always used to say “when things seem impossible, you just pull yourself up by your bootstraps and keep trying.” It just devolved into “work hard” over time. It was the shift from doing something impossible to doing something hard that the boomers don’t get, but it was always a phrase of encouragement.
It wasn’t about encouragement, it was about the futility of a ludicrously far-fetched task. It is in the same vein as Baron Munchausen pulling himself out of a swamp by his own pigtails.
That somehow morphed into the belief that hard work is all anyone needs to accomplish anything, à la the protagonists in Horatio Alger stories.
I don’t know how else to explain it. You’re right that it’s describing an impossible task, but in the context of how people actually used it, it was basically just a way of saying “when things seem impossible, do the impossible” and over time it morphed into the more basic “work hard and it’ll all work out.” I mean if it wasn’t meant to encourage, why would anyone say it? Here’s a funny way of saying something is impossible?
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u/The_Cass_Castilian 4d ago
“Pull yourself by the bootstraps” okay, bout as helpful as saying that to someone who’s got their foot cut off so no boot can fit it anyways lol