bosh

See also: Bosh

English

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɒʃ/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /bɑʃ/
Rhymes: -ɒʃ
Homophones: Boche, Bosch

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بوش‎ (boş, “empty, unoccupied”). Entered popular usage in English from the novels of James Justinian Morier.

Noun

bosh (uncountable)

(chiefly Britain) Nonsense.
- 1868, Brooks, Shirley, For A' That And A' That:
  Tho' hundreds cheer his blatant bosh,
  He's but a goose for a' that.
- 1884, Gissing, George, 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, Sabin, Edwin L[egrand], 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, Lewis, C[live] S[taples], chapter 5, in The Magician's Nephew, Collins, published 1998:
  "Why, it's absolute bosh from beginning to end."

Synonyms

blatherskite, hogwash, malarkey; see also Thesaurus:nonsense

Interjection

bosh

(chiefly Britain) An expression of disbelief or annoyance.
- 1904, Wells, H[erbert] G[eorge], 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

fiddlesticks, horsefeathers, pull the other one; see also Thesaurus:bullshit

Etymology 2

Probably from German, compare Böschung, böschen

Noun

bosh (plural boshes)

The lower part of a blast furnace, between the hearth and the stack.

Etymology 3

Compare German Posse (“farce, burlesque”), Italian bozzo (“a rough stone”), bozzetto (“a rough sketch”).

Noun

bosh (plural boshes)

(Britain, chiefly Norfolk, slang, archaic) A figure.
to cut a bosh — "to make a figure"

Etymology 4

An onomatopoeic formation, imitating a sudden blow.

Interjection

bosh

(Britain) An expression of speedy and satisfactory completion of a simple or straightforward task.
- 2001, rec.games.computer.ultima.dragons, Usenet‎:
  It's a ~3 foot double lead with two 5-pin DIN plugs on one end and a big gameport-sized-n-shaped plug on the other. One end into the gameport, t'other plugs into the back of your keyboard. Bosh, job done.
- 2001, uk.local.lincolnshire, 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.
- 2003, uk.rec.cars.misc, Usenet‎:
  Wrong, get a LPG diesel. More power than either, better economy than either, bosh, job's done.

Synonyms

bada bing bada boom, bammo, bingo, bish bash bosh, job done, that does it, there

Etymology 5

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

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

Of Romani usage.

Noun

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.

References

1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary

Anagrams

BHOs, HBOS, hobs

Albanian

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish بوش‎ (boş).

Adjective

bosh

empty (devoid of content)

Antonyms

mbush

Related terms

boshllëk

Romani

Noun

bosh

fiddle

Uzbek

Other scripts
Cyrillic	бош (bosh)‍
Latin	bosh‍
Perso-Arabic

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *baĺč (“head”).

Noun

bosh (plural boshlar)

(anatomy) head
boss
beginning

Declension

Declension of bosh

	singular	plural
nominative	bosh	boshlar
genitive	boshning	boshlarning
dative	boshga	boshlarga
definite accusative	boshni	boshlarni
locative	boshda	boshlarda
ablative	boshdan	boshlardan

Possessive forms of bosh

my	singular	plural
nominative	boshim	boshlarim
genitive	boshimning	boshlarimning
dative	boshimga	boshlarimga
definite accusative	boshimni	boshlarimni
locative	boshimda	boshlarimda
ablative	boshimdan	boshlarimdan
your	singular	plural
nominative	boshing	boshlaring
genitive	boshingning	boshlaringning
dative	boshingga	boshlaringga
definite accusative	boshingni	boshlaringni
locative	boshingda	boshlaringda
ablative	boshingdan	boshlaringdan
her/his/its	singular	plural
nominative	boshi	boshlari
genitive	boshining	boshlarining
dative	boshiga	boshlariga
definite accusative	boshini	boshlarini
locative	boshida	boshlarida
ablative	boshidan	boshlaridan
our	singular	plural
nominative	boshimiz	boshlarimiz
genitive	boshimizning	boshlarimizning
dative	boshimizga	boshlarimizga
definite accusative	boshimizni	boshlarimizni
locative	boshimizda	boshlarimizda
ablative	boshimizdan	boshlarimizdan
your	singular	plural
nominative	boshingiz	boshlaringiz
genitive	boshingizning	boshlaringizning
dative	boshingizga	boshlaringizga
definite accusative	boshingizni	boshlaringizni
locative	boshingizda	boshlaringizda
ablative	boshingizdan	boshlaringizdan
their	singular	plural
nominative	boshi	boshlari
genitive	boshining	boshlarining
dative	boshiga	boshlariga
definite accusative	boshini	boshlarini
locative	boshida	boshlarida
ablative	boshidan	boshlaridan