The History of the Word Bogus
Hello,
I’m always intrigued to find words I consider slang have been in the language far longer than disapproving English teachers imagine. We have the Vikings to thank for the word kid, for example, so don’t tell me it’s American English slang. Today’s example is bogus, which did start as American slang but has moved on since then to mean anything sham, fake, or phony and as it has been used even in the US parliament I think we can conclude it isn’t slang anymore.
Any fan of Bill and Ted (you can count me in that group) will tell you that bogus also means something is bad or uncool. They even had an entire movie dedicated to that idea – “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey” (1991), but the word pre-dates those endearing movie teens/rock gods by 150 years.
Bogus arrived in English around 1830 to describe a counterfeiting machine used to create false coinage, with an early mention in a New Hampshire newspaper report (The Concord, Aug 24, 1833). It quickly came to denote the fake money itself and anything which wasn’t genuine.
It’s a great name for a machine and nobody really knows how it got its name but there are some fun theories. In the late 1700s there was a local Vermont word, tantrabobus (or tantrabogus), which was used to describe any strange object. That might make sense, although there aren’t many recorded instances of that Vermont word which makes me suspicious. Tantrabobus is sometimes traced back to a similar word, tantarabobs, which was used in Devon, England for the devil. Others think bogus must be linked to the idea of a bogey or bogeyman which is a word to explore here another day, along with boggart perhaps.
Other rumours about the origins of bogus (with thanks to The Better Editor’s article on the topic) include a tribe in central Asia, the bagasse pulp leftover from sugarcane production, and bogue (fake) in Louisiana French. He concludes all the stories about the origin of bogus are probably bogus. I can’t help but agree.
I found another bogus movie when I went searching for Bill and Ted. A film called “Bogus” (which might be available on American Netflix if you’re curious) was made in 1996 telling the story of an orphan who is sent to live with his mother’s foster sister (played by the wonderful Whoopi Goldberg). To help him adjust to his new reality he creates an imaginary friend, a French magician (played by Gérard Depardieu who scooped up all French roles in Hollywood at that time) called Bogus. The perfect name for a pretend friend, I think.
Until next time happy reading, writing, and wordfooling,
Grace (@Wordfoolery)
