bosh
See also: Bosh
English edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /bɒʃ/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /bɑʃ/
- Rhymes: -ɒʃ
- Homophones: Boche, Bosch
Etymology 1 edit
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بوش (boş, “empty, unoccupied”). Entered popular usage in English from the novels of James Justinian Morier.
Noun edit
bosh (uncountable)
- (chiefly British) Nonsense.
- 1868, Shirley Brooks, For A' That And A' That:
- Tho' hundreds cheer his blatant bosh,
He's but a goose for a' that.
- 1884, George Gissing, chapter 17, in The Unclassed:
- But you know very well you're talking bosh," exclaimed Abraham, somewhat discomfited. "There must be government, and there must be order, say what you like.
- 1912, Edwin L[egrand] Sabin, chapter VIII, in With Carson and Frémont:
- Oliver saw Kit Carson wink at the lieutenant and Lucien Maxwell, as the speech reached them, and it was evident that these three leaders did not believe the Indian tales. Consequently he himself decided that the reports of "evil spirits" awaiting were all bosh.
- 1955, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, chapter 5, in The Magician's Nephew, Collins, published 1998:
- "Why, it's absolute bosh from beginning to end."
Synonyms edit
- blatherskite, hogwash, malarkey; see also Thesaurus:nonsense
Interjection edit
bosh
- (chiefly British) An expression of disbelief or annoyance.
- 1904, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter 1, in The Food of the Gods:
- "Bosh!" said the Vicar, rejecting the hint altogether.
- 1911, G. K. Chesterton, “The Sins of Prince Saradine”, in The Innocence of Father Brown:
- “The people who wrote the mediaeval ballads,” answered the priest, “knew more about fairies than you do. It isn’t only nice things that happen in fairyland.”
“Oh, bosh!” said Flambeau. “Only nice things could happen under such an innocent moon. I am for pushing on now and seeing what does really come. We may die and rot before we ever see again such a moon or such a mood.”
Synonyms edit
Etymology 2 edit
Probably from German, compare Böschung, böschen
Noun edit
bosh (plural boshes)
Etymology 3 edit
Compare German Posse (“farce, burlesque”), Italian bozzo (“a rough stone”), bozzetto (“a rough sketch”).
Noun edit
bosh (plural boshes)
Etymology 4 edit
An onomatopoeic formation, imitating a sudden blow.
Interjection edit
bosh
- (British) An expression of speedy and satisfactory completion of a simple or straightforward task.
- 2001, uk.local.lincolnshire[2] (Usenet):
- My father registered with these people a few months ago, and all his calls dried up. He was also of the opinion that he shouldn't need to register not to be disturbed, and he's pretty ruthless on the 'phone when he wants to be . . . but eventually he grew tired of it . . . bosh. Job done.
Synonyms edit
Etymology 5 edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Verb edit
bosh (third-person singular simple present boshes, present participle boshing, simple past and past participle boshed)
- (UK, slang, transitive) To consume (illicit drugs).
- 1996, Aidan Macfarlane, Magnus Macfarlane, Philip Robson, The user: the truth about drugs, what they do, how they feel, and why people take them:
- We boshed two grams each of the beast 10, and then we went downstairs.
- 2015, Oliver Merlin, Clapham High Way, page 188:
- People want to make sure they are loaded up well before midnight. It's not like any other party where they might not turn up until eleven. They commence boshing pills straight away […]
- 2017, Jon Boon, James Desborough, The Shamen rapper who sang "Es are good" has revealed he was high on drugs every time he did TOTP (in The Mirror newspaper)
- “I wasn’t on three (e) pills, I was on 1. So, I remember it. It’s only when you bosh that third pill you start losing it, that’s not really how you take ecstasy. Kids do that, but it’s a bit foolish. Not that I’m saying I haven’t done that!”
Etymology 6 edit
Of Romani usage.
Noun edit
bosh (plural boshes)
- A fiddle (musical instrument).
- Patrick "Pecker" Dunne quoted in 2009, Mícheál Ó hAodha, Migrants and Memory: The Forgotten “Postcolonials” (page 53)
- My father broke his bosh one night when he was in Waterford.
- Patrick "Pecker" Dunne quoted in 2009, Mícheál Ó hAodha, Migrants and Memory: The Forgotten “Postcolonials” (page 53)
References edit
- John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary
Anagrams edit
Albanian edit
Etymology edit
From Ottoman Turkish بوش (boş).
Adjective edit
bosh
- empty (devoid of content)
Antonyms edit
Related terms edit
Romani edit
Noun edit
bosh
Uzbek edit
| Other scripts | |
|---|---|
| Cyrillic | бош (bosh) |
| Latin | bosh |
| Perso-Arabic | |
Etymology edit
From Proto-Turkic *baĺč (“head”).
Noun edit
bosh (plural boshlar)
Declension edit
Declension of bosh
Possessive forms of bosh