Bogus. In reporting a trial at law The Boston Courier in 1857 gave the following authoritative origin:--“The word Bogus is a corruption of the name of one Borghese, a very corrupt individual, who twenty years ago or more did a tremendous business in the way of supplying the great west, and portions of the south-west, with counterfeit bills and bills on fictitious banks. The western people fell into the habit of shortening the name of Borghese to that of Bogus, and his bills, as well as all others of like character, were universally styled by them ‘bogus currency.’” So that the word is really American.
Bohea. Tea of the poorest quality, grown in the hilly district of Wu-i; pronounced by the Chinese Vooy.
Bohemia. From the Bohii, the ancient inhabitants of the country.
Bohemian. One who leads a hand-to-mouth existence by literary or other precarious pursuits, who shuns the ordinary conventions of society, and aspires to that only of his fellows. The term originally meant a “Gipsy,” because the earliest nomadic people who overran Western Europe did so by way of Bohemia.
Boiled Shirt. An Americanism, originally from the western states, for a starched white shirt.
Bolivia. After General Simon Bolivar, surnamed “The Liberator of Peru.”
Bologna. A settlement of the Boii, after whom the Romans called it Bononia.
Bomba. The sobriquet of Ferdinand, King of Naples, on account of his bombardment of Messina in 1848.
Bonanza State. Nevada, on account of its rich mines, styled Bonanza mines. Bonanza is Spanish for “prosperity.”
Bond Street (Old and New). Built on the land owned by Sir Thomas Bond, Comptroller of the Household of Charles I.