Many words used in modern colloquial speech are not native to the Russian language, but were borrowed at different times. The meaning of such words, on the one hand, seems to be understandable.
However, what they really mean is not always clear. For example, not every person will clearly and distinctly explain what it means to sabotage, even if he himself begins to periodically use this verb in speech.
Where and when did this word come from?
The basis of this verb, often flickering in conversation, is the French word sabotage. But it, in turn, is derived from another word - saboter. The linguistic chain does not end there, this word also came from another - sabot.
Of course, for Russian speech, the word "sabotage" is a direct borrowing from the French language. When exactly this verb became an integral part of Russian speech, characterizing most clearly any actions or events, is not precisely established. Presumably, the word began to be used in Russian conversations after the war of 1812, just as the term “bistro”, borrowed from the speech of the Cossacks, came into use in France.
What is its original meaning?
The meaning of the word sabot is a wooden shoe. So called in France wooden casual shoes, familiar to many from European fairy tales or illustrations to them. Such shoes were worn throughout Europe, as well as bast shoes in Russia.
The meaning of the word saboter is to knock on a wooden shoe. That is, its meaning is in the description of a specific action performed with everyday shoes. For example, if a person on the doorstep of a house takes off his shoes and starts tapping it on the steps, cutting off the adhering dirt, then he does not begin to sabotage anything. This action with cleaning shoes will be voiced in French by the word saboter, whose meaning is not close to the meaning of the verb in Russian.
But the meaning of the word sabotage is already completely different. The meaning of this particular word is close to that which is usually given in conversations to the verb “sabotage”. This word means the action of inserting a wooden shoe into the mechanism of a working loom. Of course, with the aim of stopping the operation of the machine or breaking its mechanism.
