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Boycott (To)

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To boycott a person is to refuse to deal with him, to take any notice of him, or even to sell to him. The term arose in 1881, when Captain Boycott, an Irish landlord, was thus ostracised by the Irish agrarian insurgents. The custom of ostracising is of very old standing. St. Paul exhorts Christians to “boycott” idolaters (2 Cor. vi. 17); and the Jewsboy-cotted” the Samaritans. The French phrases, Damner une boutique and Damner une ville, convey the same idea; and the Catholic Church anathematises and interdicts freely.

“One word as to the way in which a man should he boycotted. When any man has taken a farm from which a tenant has been evicted, or is a grabber, let everyone in the parish turn his back on him; have no communication with him; have no dealings with him. You need never say an unkind word to him; but never say anything at all to him. If you must meet him in fair, walk away from him silently. Do him no violence, but have no dealings with him. Let every man’s door he closed against him; and make him feel himself a stranger and a castaway in his own neighbourhood.”—J. Dillon, M.P. (Speech to the Land League, Feb. 26, 1881).

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Bowyer God
Box
Box and Cox
Box the Compass
Box Days
Box Harry (To)
Boxing-Day
Boy
Boy Bachelor
Boy Bishop
Boycott (To)
Boyle Controversy
Boyle’s Law
Boyle Lectures
Boz
Bozzy
Brabançonne
Brabançons
Brace
Brace of Shakes
Brad amant or Bradamante

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