Query: "book" = leave, run away

[Dave Wilton]

> I doubt the influence of "boog, boogie"; the similarity of these
> forms to "book" is probably just a coincidence. So the question is:
> How did "book" (one with pages) come to be a slang term for "leave,
> run away, etc."?
>    Would anyone have any ideas?

Why would you doubt it? "Boogie" can mean to leave, to depart: "Let's
boogie. I've got to get home." This sense, according to RHHDAS, dates from
c. 1974 as well. I think they clearly influenced one another, even if they
ultimately are found to have separate origins.

But other suggestions I have heard include that it's from "close the book"
(sports phrase for the game is over and the record book closed). That covers
the departure sense, but not the traveling fast one. Another is that it
comes from "to book" meaning to study. As in "I have to book. See you at the
library."