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boffo (BOF-oh) - (slang, largely US) adj., outstanding, very successful. n., (show business slang) a great success, a hit.
The etymology of slang is often confusing, but this is exceptionally tangled. Complicating things is the existence of boff, which aside from the verb meaning to have sex with also is US show-biz slang, meaning a gag or line that produces a hearty laugh as well as a hit in general. Many authorities think one of these is derived from the other but disagree on which is the source. Other authorities suggest separate sources for the two words, without any clear consensus on what. Proposed sources, btw, include, buffo, a comic opera character (related to buffoon), bouffo, a comic opera genre, and a shortening of bo(x o)ff(ice), as in the total receipts paid for admission. On a personal level, I'm surprised to learn this is specifically US slang -- I had the impression that is was UK slang from, perhaps, 19th century music-hall, rather than 1930s Hollywood.
---L.
The etymology of slang is often confusing, but this is exceptionally tangled. Complicating things is the existence of boff, which aside from the verb meaning to have sex with also is US show-biz slang, meaning a gag or line that produces a hearty laugh as well as a hit in general. Many authorities think one of these is derived from the other but disagree on which is the source. Other authorities suggest separate sources for the two words, without any clear consensus on what. Proposed sources, btw, include, buffo, a comic opera character (related to buffoon), bouffo, a comic opera genre, and a shortening of bo(x o)ff(ice), as in the total receipts paid for admission. On a personal level, I'm surprised to learn this is specifically US slang -- I had the impression that is was UK slang from, perhaps, 19th century music-hall, rather than 1930s Hollywood.
---L.
