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pull oneself up by the bootstraps

pull oneself up by the bootstraps

Succeed by one's own efforts, as in She was homeless for nearly two years, but she managed to pull herself up by the bootstraps. This expression alludes to pulling on high boots by means of the straps or loops attached to them at the top. [Early 1900s]
See also: bootstrap, pull, up

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
TheobaldTHEE-ə-bawld (English)English (Rare), Ancient Germanic
TuÂN-Vietnamese
Timofeitee-mah-FYAYRussian
Sandeep-Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil
Bernardober-NAHR-do (Italian, Spanish)Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Aglaiaə-GLAY-ə (English), ə-GLIE-ə (English)Greek Mythology, Greek
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