▁pr anks , ▁mal icious ▁hack ing , ▁a ▁practical ▁jo ke , ▁or ▁the ▁like ▁to ▁avoid ▁need ing ▁to ▁invoke ▁legal ▁and ▁organiz ational ▁requirements ▁for ▁address ing ▁sab ot age . ▁ ▁Et ym ology ▁ ▁A ▁popular ▁but ▁false ▁account ▁of ▁the ▁origin ▁of ▁the ▁term ' s ▁present ▁meaning ▁is ▁the ▁story ▁that ▁poor ▁workers ▁in ▁France , ▁who ▁wore ▁wooden ▁sho es ▁called ▁, ▁used ▁to ▁throw ▁them ▁into ▁the ▁machines ▁to ▁dis rupt ▁production . ▁This ▁origin ▁story ▁is ▁told ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 1 ▁movie ▁Star ▁Tre k ▁VI . ▁This ▁account ▁is ▁not ▁supported ▁by ▁the ▁et ym ology . ▁R ather , ▁the ▁French ▁source ▁word ▁literally ▁means ▁to ▁" walk ▁no is ily ", ▁as ▁was ▁done ▁by ▁sab ot - we aring ▁labour ers , ▁who ▁interrupted ▁production ▁by ▁means ▁of ▁labor ▁disput es , ▁not ▁damage . ▁ ▁One ▁of ▁its ▁first ▁appearances ▁in ▁French ▁literature ▁is ▁in ▁the ▁D iction naire ▁du ▁Bas - L ang age ▁ou ▁man ières ▁de ▁par ler ▁us ité es ▁parmi ▁le ▁peu ple ▁of ▁D ' H aut el , ▁edited ▁in ▁ 1 8 0 8 . ▁ ▁The ▁verb ▁" s ab oter " ▁is ▁also ▁found ▁in ▁ 1 8 7 3 – 1 8 7 4 ▁in ▁the ▁D iction naire ▁de ▁la ▁langue ▁française ▁of ▁É mile ▁Lit tr é . ▁But ▁it ▁is ▁at ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 9 th ▁century ▁that