Bogus (Adjective)

Definition 1: Fake, false, not genuine.

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Usage 1: "Bogus" today is used almost exclusively as an adjective, even though it started out as a noun (see Etymology). At one time con artists passed bogus to unwary victims; now, they pass bogus coins and bills.

Suggested usage: Today's word is a common colloquial replacement for "fake" or "false": "Frederique, the Count of Mountebank, as he called himself, made a costly mistake when he set up a company that was as bogus as his name." Just take a look at television and you will see a plethora of bogus investment schemes, weight-loss and body-building programs. Caveat emptor!

Etymology: There are many explanations of the origin of today's word, most of them are, well, bogus. That it is a shortening of tantrabogus "an unusual object," a word used at one time in Vermont seems unlikely, since only one person has reported hearing the word. The most likely explanation is that it is a fanciful Latinization of "bogy" or "bogey" as in "bogy-man" or "booger-man," which originally referred to evil goblins or ghosts. What is sure is that by 1827 it referred to machines that produced counterfeit money, especially coins. Money produced by such machines was itself called "bogus" and the current meaning is but a very small metaphorical hop from the adjectival use. (There is nothing bogus about our gratitude to Tim J. Dobbins, III for suggesting today's word. It is genuine.)

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