bogus

bogus
bogus 1838, "counterfeit money, spurious coin," Amer.Eng., apparently from a slang word applied (according to some sources first in Ohio in 1827) to a counterfeiter's apparatus.
One bogus or machine impressing dies on the coin, with a number of dies, engraving tools, bank bill paper, spurious coin, &c. &c. making in all a large wagon load, was taken into possession by the attorney general of Lower Canada. [Niles' Register, Sept. 7, 1833, quoting from Concord, N.H., "Statesman," Aug. 24]
Some trace this to tantrabobus, also tantrabogus, a late 18c. colloquial Vermont word for any odd-looking object, in later 19c. use "the devil," which might be connected to tantarabobs, recorded as a Devonshire name for the devil. Others trace it to the same source as BOGEY (Cf. bogey) (1).

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • bogus — bo‧gus [ˈbəʊgəs ǁ ˈboʊ ] adjective informal LAW not real, but dishonestly pretending to be something or someone: • They issue certificates of deposits, often based on fictitious assets such as bogus gold mines. • bogus claims of injury by their… …   Financial and business terms

  • Bogus — can mean: *Not genuine; spurious *Of computer programs, not working * Bogus (film), a 1996 film starring Whoopi Goldberg *Bogus Basin mountain resort in Idaho *Mr. Bogus, a 1992 animationee also*BogoMips *Bogon *Bogosort *Quantum bogodynamics …   Wikipedia

  • bogus — I adjective affected, artificial, counterfeit, false, phony, sham, spurious, unauthentic, ungenuine, unreal, untrue associated concepts: bogus ceremony, bogus certificate, bogus check II index assumed (feigned) …   Law dictionary

  • Bogus — Données clés Réalisation Norman Jewison Scénario Norman Jewison Arnon Milchan Jeff Rothberg Acteurs principaux Whoopi Goldberg Gérard Depardieu Haley Joel Osment Pays d’origine États Unis …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bogus — Bo gus, a. [Etymol. uncertain.] Spurious; fictitious; sham; a cant term originally applied to counterfeit coin, and hence denoting anything counterfeit. [Colloq. U. S.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Bogus — Bo gus, n. A liquor made of rum and molasses. [Local, U. S.] Bartlett. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • BOGUS — Rex Maurusiorum, Antonii partes sequebatur in Actiaca pugna. Strab. l. 8 …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • bogus — adj *counterfeit, spurious, fake, sham, pseudo, pinchbeck, phony Analogous words: fraudulent, deceitful, deceptive (see corresponding nouns at IMPOSTURE): duping, hoaxing, gulling, hoodwinking (see DUPE) Contrasted words: *authentic, genuine,… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • bogus — [adj] counterfeit artificial, dummy, ersatz, fake, false, fictitious, forged, fraudulent, imitation, not what it is cracked up to be*, phony, pretended, pseudo, sham, simulated, spurious; concept 582 Ant. authentic, genuine, real …   New thesaurus

  • bogus — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ not genuine or true. DERIVATIVES bogusly adverb bogusness noun. ORIGIN originally US, denoting a machine for making counterfeit money: of unknown origin …   English terms dictionary

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