How did the word "boycott" get its present meaning?

skysmom65

Collective and organized ostracism applied in labour, economic, political, or social relations to protest and punish practices considered unfair. The tactic was popularized by Charles Stewart Parnell to protest high rents and land evictions in Ireland in 1880 by the estate manager Charles C. Boycott (b. 1832-d. 1897). Boycotts are principally used by labour organizations to win improved wages and working conditions or by consumers to pressure companies to change their hiring, labour, environmental, or investment practices. U.S. law distinguishes between primary boycotts, which consist of the refusal by employees to purchase the goods or services of their employers, and secondary boycotts, which involve attempts to induce third parties to refuse to patronize the employer. The latter type of boycott is illegal in most states. Boycotts were used as a tactic in the U.S. civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s and also have been applied to influence the conduct of multinational corporations. http://www.answers.com/boycott Dec 06 06, 9:36 PM

zbeckabee

1880, from Irish Land League ostracism of Capt. Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897) land agent of Lough-Mask in County Mayo, who refused to lower rents for his tenant farmers. Quickly adopted by newspapers in languages as far afield as Japanese (boikotto). The family name is from a place in England. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=boycott&searchmode=none Dec 06 06, 9:44 PM

_princess_007

"Boycott" meaning to ostracize or refuse to patronize a person or business to coerce a change in conduct, we do know exactly where the word came from. Back in the mid-1800s, Captain Charles Boycott was the local agent for a British landlord in County Mayo, Ireland. He was also a royal jerk. Boycott was so inflexible and cruel to the poor farmers who rented land from him that they decided that no one would deal with him, not even to sell him food or harvest his crops. The farmers made Captain Boycott so miserable that he eventually gave up and fled back to England. Thus the term "boycott" was born, meaning to organize with your neighbors to "ice out" and refuse to deal with a person or business until they change their attitudes or practices. http://www.word-detective.com/070401.html Dec 07 06, 4:13 PM