![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bodacious (boh-DAY-shuhs) - adj., (southern US) blatant, unmistakable; (US) audacious, gutsy; (US, Austr.) impressively large; (general) outstanding; sexy, voluptuous.
A colorful 19th century Americanism that has morphed considerably over its career, but all with the common thread that some quality is present in a large degree. Note, btw, that for describing attractiveness, it's almost always used of women only. First appeared in print in the southern US around 1832, often with the spelling bawdacious, which suggests it was made by blending bold and audacious, possibly from a southwest English dialect source. So, no, not coined by Bill & Ted, nor before them by the cartoonist of Snuffy Smith.
---L.
A colorful 19th century Americanism that has morphed considerably over its career, but all with the common thread that some quality is present in a large degree. Note, btw, that for describing attractiveness, it's almost always used of women only. First appeared in print in the southern US around 1832, often with the spelling bawdacious, which suggests it was made by blending bold and audacious, possibly from a southwest English dialect source. So, no, not coined by Bill & Ted, nor before them by the cartoonist of Snuffy Smith.
---L.
