Mr. Twist tied his bootlaces with such annoyance that he got them into knots.
"Christopher and Columbus"
Countess Elizabeth Von Arnim
He got his bootlaces hopelessly into knots.
"Christopher and Columbus"
Countess Elizabeth Von Arnim
An instance of the saving of time by making the same motion of the arm execute two operations instead of one, occurs in the simple art of making the tags of bootlaces: these tags are formed out of very thin, tinned, sheet-iron, and were formerly cut out of long strips of that material into pieces of such a breadth that when bent round they just enclosed the lace.
"On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures"
Charles Babbage