Sabotage

Sabotage: "
First used in the early 1900's to describe French railway workers that were on strike and used to cut the sabot that held railroad tracks in place.

I was always taught at school (in England) that this was named after the clogs, or sabots, that the French rural peasants used to wear. Unhappy at the loss of their jobs during the mechanisation of agriculture in the 19th century, they would throw their sabots in the thresing machines causing them to fail. This method of damaging equipment came to be known as sabotage."

Tags: Idioms, Sayings, Word Origins, Words, proverbs