Stephenson:Neal:Quicksilver:444:sabotage (David C. Weichert)

From the Quicksilver Metaweb.

Jack Shaftoe talks about stalling Doctor Leibnitz' machinery by means of a sabot (wooden shoe worn by French peasents) and actually uses the word sabotage. This seems rather a few centuries too early, since: "The word is said to date from a French railway strike of 1910 when workers destroyed the wooden shoes (sabots) that held the rails in place." (Britannica: Sabot). The word was introduced to the German Language (according to Duden, Vol. 7, Herkunftswörterbuch {etymological dictionary}) only in the 20th century. Also in English the word is said to be used only after 1910 (http://www.etymonline.com/s1etym.htm). The story of workers throwing shoes into machinery is not believed to be the etymological root of the word.

Actually it's Eliza who mentions the possibility of sabot-dropping, and Leibnitz who uses the term "sabotage" in his response. - Scott Helmke