BODACIOUS

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7419
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

BODACIOUS

Postby Dr. Goodword » Wed Jun 25, 2008 11:58 pm

• bodacious •

Pronunciation: bo-day-shês • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: (US slang) 1. Unrestrained, outspoken, brazen, bold and audacious. 2. Exceptional, excellent, or outlandishly striking.

Notes: Although we are still listing this word as slang, it is slowly but surely making its way into mainstream US English. It has been used as an adverb, bodaciously, and the noun, bodaciousness, is already all over the Web.

In Play: All who are remarkable in what they do qualify for today's adjective: "That bodacious gossip, Minnie Pearl, is telling everyone in town that I'm a transvestite just because I wore my kilt in the Memorial Day parade!" (Good thing you didn't play your bagpipes or she might spread the rumor that you strangle cats, too.) We humans are not the only things in the world that can be bodacious: "Merlin came to the garden party in the most bodacious necktie I have ever seen."

Word History: Today's Good Word means "bold and audacious" because it is a blend of bold + audacious. It is common in many English dialects for L to drop out or become U before the consonants P, B, T, D, K, G. Words like help and milk are pronounced [heup] and [miuk] where this occurs. After O, the U would not be heard, leading to the current spelling: bodacious. This word was particularly popular in the US South even before it was popularized in the comic strip about the southern mountain man, Snuffy Smith. Today you will hear it from coast to coast in the US though rarely elsewhere in the English-speaking world. (Today we thank Jerry Kersten for being so bodacious as to suggest this peculiar Good Word for our series.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword

Perry
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2306
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:50 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Postby Perry » Thu Jun 26, 2008 9:16 am

It seems that the strip has added several other phrases to the American vernacular, including "sweet mama," "horsefeathers," "heebie-jeebies" and "hotsie-totsie." It has been the inspiration for a hit song, "Barney Google (With Your Goo-Goo-Googly Eyes)," and is one of a few historical comic strips to be honored on a special set of U.S. postage stamps.

It's a shame that Barney Googlehas all but disappeared from the comic strip.

Image
"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."
Anonymous

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8042
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Postby Slava » Thu Jun 26, 2008 9:43 am

I use this in a twist on Obama's slogan:

The Bodacity of Hope.

Stargzer
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2578
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
Location: Crownsville, MD

Postby Stargzer » Fri Jun 27, 2008 12:00 am

I use this in a twist on Obama's slogan:

The Bodacity of Hope.
That's Hope, Arkansas, n'est-ce pas?

:wink:
Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Amazon [Bot] and 57 guests