A campaign is afoot to have that fine Black Country word "bostin'" added to the OED. My local paper promises details of how to join the campaign tomorrow. I expect everyone's support in this.

Never heard of it. OneLook shows it listed in only one dictionary: "Adj. Great, good, enjoyable. E.g."She had a bostin figure." [W. Midlands use]."

Tinman

quote:

Originally posted by tinman:
Never heard of it. OneLook shows it listed in only one dictionary: "Adj. Great, good, enjoyable. E.g."She had a bostin figure." [W. Midlands use]."

Tinman

In my part of the world (actually in my very small part of the world) it's an all purpose adjective of approval. It's a bit like the teen slang "wicked" or whatever the modern equivalent is.

It's heard a lot. A friend of mine had his descriptions of everything down to just two words "bostin" and "b*ll*cks".

(I'm not being coy or sensitive with the asterisks I'm just trying to anticpate and circumvent the problems I'll be having for the next three weeks at Harrow. They have an unusually aggressive cyber nanny system that often locks me out of wordcraft for the summer.)

From the Black Country pronunciation of bursting. That makes it a cousin of cussing / cursing.

I've never heard of it, either. Is it used in the rest of England, too?

quote:

Is it used in the rest of England, too?

No. Black Country only.

You can sign the petition to get "bostin'" included in the OED here.
UK members can also get a free T-shirt.

Bob
- Where and what is Harrow, and why do you Summer there? I see it's a county and a school when I google it.

- What is Black Country, and why do you call it that?

- How did bostin' come to have this meaning?

- Why can't I get a t-shirt, too?

- What is Owamya?

permanently perplexed,
CW

quote:

Originally posted by Caterwauller:
Bob
- Where and what is Harrow, and why do you Summer there? I see it's a county and a school when I google it.

- What is Black Country, and why do you call it that?

- How did bostin' come to have this meaning?

- Why can't I get a t-shirt, too?

- What is Owamya?

permanently perplexed,
CW

1. It's a town in England (North London) that is famous for its boys' school where I teach Summer School.

2. It's the industrial midlands, so called because of the cloud of black smoke that allegedly covered the region in its industrial heyday although more likely because of a number of paintings done in the last century depicting it thus.

3. As a corruption of the word "bursting".

4. Dunno. Try. They might send you one.

5. Black country talk for "How are you?"

permanently helpful
Bob

PS. Trarabit means "Goodbye for now".

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,

You can also say something has bost if it's broken, in the same way others might say "it's bust".

I'll join the campaign .

quote:

They have an unusually aggressive cyber nanny

Are you sure that's not "cyber NINNY?"

quote:

permanently helpful
Bob

PS. Trarabit means "Goodbye for now".

You really ARE permanently helpful! Thanks! I was going to ask about Trarabit, too . . . but thought I'd perhaps reached my limit of stupid questions. Thinking now that perhaps I haven't, how do you pronounce Trarabit? Owamya I can figure out.

Trar-a-bit

with the first a long (as in say "ah" and the second short as in hat or sometimes just a schwa)

Thanks, Bob! Can anyone give me a brief etymology of this phrase/word?

quote:

Trarabit

I don't know, but I'm guessing it's related to " tata " or "tata for now."

Tinman

Quite right, Tinman. It's 'ta-ta for a bit', or 'bye for a while'.

How did it morph from Ta-Ta to Trar?

Just keep saying 'ta-ta' really quickly until the sound merge into each other. Think of it as 't@rar', with @ being a schwa.

"bostin" is curious. "bosten" is a deprecation in Wyclif, as it means boastful.
In Black Country it seems to have the same sense as old German and "brossen" in Cumbrian, ie. bursting.
Several of your bloggers correctly use the phrase "bostin wench". As this means buxom, its etymology is obvious!
D. Wilson in 1974 thought buxom was the sense in that time, and it came to mean excellent by generalisation.

Ed Conduit, author of "The Black Country Dialect"

Our Bob is from the Black Country, too.

"Our Bob," huh?

As opposed to these Bobs, perhaps? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bobs

In the 1960s there was a similar expression, though unrelated, in the USA, "bitchin'." It
meant the same as bostin'.

Ah, yes, Tinman, our Bob Hale. Unfortunately he is in China now and posting isn't as regular as it used to be.