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Book it, booking on:
It is slang meaning to run fast. I used to hear people use it to describe running in football games when I was cheerleader (she mumbled embarrassedly). "Did you see Bozeman? He was bookin'! They didn't stop him until he got to the three [yard line]."
A couple of references associate "book it" meaning to move fast with "book it" meaning to study or "hit the books." ("Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner" by Geneva Smitherman, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1994; and "Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1, A-G" by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1994.) Random House says "book it" is influenced by "boogie." Both sources say the phrase dates back to the 1970s.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/25/messages/833.html
It was used often by school mates all through elementary scholl up to high school (circa 1968-1980).
"He was really booken" meaning he was running with all his might. It could be a trucker's slang word in USA.
When a person is getting ready to leave a place and travel in a car or truck - "Bookin' on down the road."
It means he was really 'bookin' it (Going fast).
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/42/messages/1129.html
The Urban slang dictionary says:
1. run fast such as in a race, or being chased
2. to go quickly, move fast
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bookin
to get the hell outta dodge, running away as fast as you can (to avoid being caught for something that you did wrong)
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=booked
To leave in haste, because of an unexpected emergency.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bookin%27
Old school term, comes from the early 70s locking dance scene, good dancing or locking also means to leave a location, or to do something in a hurry.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=booking
I'm not positive about this, but I THINK it came from the words coined to echo the sound of running footsteps - bookity-bookity-bookity - and then the familiar word-forming process of clipping occurred.
I believe the phrase originated in Akron, OH. In the tire industry when tread rubber stock slabs come down the conveyor a worker picks them up and places them in booking trays later to be transported to a tire building machine. When the treads are coming fast and the worker is working quickly to "book" the treads he is said to be really bookin'. The booking trays have "pages" made of metal that keep the layers of treads from sticking together. These carts full of trays are called books.
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You're reading What is the origin of using the term book, bookin, booked to mean to run or leave fast?
Comments
Thanks for the help, still not the definitive answer I am looking for but I have a better idea now.
by dza990 on December 27th, 2007
Bookin is a slang to avoid getting booked.
The word 'booked' is never used for running away.
by VSPrasad on December 27th, 2007