# Do you know the word "bogue"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 8, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499 "2006-03-08T04:48:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/1 "2006-03-08T04:48:04Z")
I grew up in Michigan. The word bogue was used quite regularly- it means rude or unfair. “I can’t believe you ate all the pie! That’s so bogue!” Since moving from there 18 years ago, I’ve never heard it used again, anywhere. Have you ever heard/used this word? ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/2 "2006-03-08T05:09:34Z")
Uh… no. Bogu_s_, but not bogue ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/3 "2006-03-08T05:11:22Z")
I remember hearing that AND bogus when I was a teenager. Ohhh about twenty years ago. This was in Memphis, TN. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/4 "2006-03-08T05:13:26Z")
Are you sure you’ve got the right spelling? A define: query through Google only turns up one hit, referring to a nautical term. I suppose the term could just be an alteration of ‘bogus’ which was extremely regional and never caught on. I’ve never heard it, and I lived in Michigan about the same time (granted, I moved away when I was 7, so I probably didn’t get to pick up on all the ‘hip’ terms). ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/5 "2006-03-08T05:16:47Z")
I heard it only once, about 1976. I was getting off the train near my college and somehow had gotten into a conversation with another student who’d been on the same train but I had never met. I ended up asking for a ride to campus when I learned that she had a car parked there, and she did give me the ride, but said it was bogue of me to ask. I never saw her again or heard that word. But that’s just how I imagined it would be spelled. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/6 "2006-03-08T05:17:58Z")
i’ll back you up on this one. i’ve heard it. never really liked it, so i never said it… but i’ve DEFINITELY heard it a billion times (born in detroit, raised in dearborn heights) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/7 "2006-03-08T05:20:29Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > I heard it only once, about 1976. I was getting off the train near my college and somehow had gotten into a conversation with another student who’d been on the same train but I had never met. I ended up asking for a ride to campus when I learned that she had a car parked there, and she did give me the ride, but said it was bogue of me to ask. I never saw her again or heard that word. But that’s just how I imagined it would be spelled. BTW this was in San Diego. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/8 "2006-03-08T05:20:43Z")
Yay! I was starting to think maybe it was just my own family that said it. Yes, it’s probably very regional, although I grew up 4 hours north of Detroit. And I’m just guessing on the spelling- I’m sure I’ve never seen it written. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/9 "2006-03-08T08:21:58Z")
I spent the first 22 years of my life living near Detroit, but yet I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use that word. I do know of a street named “Bogue” in East Lansing, though. Interesting… ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/10 "2006-03-08T12:27:58Z")
Not quite the same, but isn’t ‘bogan’ a derogatory Australian term for somebody… ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/11 "2006-03-08T12:34:00Z")
I lived in Kalamazoo from 76 to 86 and never heard “bogue.” ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/12 "2006-03-08T12:43:09Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I lived in Kalamazoo from 76 to 86 and never heard “bogue.” 76 to 86 would make you too old to know it… sorry, don’t throw anything at me. this term seems to be more 90s ish ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/13 "2006-03-08T13:05:01Z")
> [@Least Original User Name Ever](#): > > 76 to 86 would make you too old to know it… > sorry, don’t throw anything at me. > this term seems to be more 90s ish Nope. I left Michigan in 88, and I knew it the whole time I was growing up. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/14 "2006-03-08T13:14:25Z")
Down in southern Mississippi, there is a river called the Bogue Chitto river. People canoe and tube down in all the time. Pronounced BO-ga CHIT-ta. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/15 "2006-03-08T13:21:10Z")
We used “bogus” (incorrectly, I might add) in the early 70s. We used it to mean “bad” or “sucks” or “lousy.” When I think of one of my friends from back in the day, that’s the first thing that comes to mind. Everything was “bogus.” To fucking death. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/16 "2006-03-08T14:42:26Z")
“Bougie” Bougie usually refers to someone who tries to act higher class than they really are, or socially pretentious. I’ve heard it in Dallas, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia. From my experience it tends to be used more in black slang than elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/17 "2006-03-08T15:10:05Z")
> [@Least Original User Name Ever](#): > > 76 to 86 would make you too old to know it… > sorry, don’t throw anything at me. > this term seems to be more 90s ish Did you miss my first post? ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/18 "2006-03-08T15:38:33Z")
I lived most of my life so far in the southwest part of Michigan, and I definitely heard bogue. Although I never thought of how to spell it before now, so looking at it like that, it doesn’t look right. Bouge? Boge? Eh, whatever, this was from 1980 until the late 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/19 "2006-03-08T15:51:44Z")
Never heard it, but my guess is it’s a back-formation from “bogus,” which I _have_ heard, a million times, as in: “That’s, like, so bogus.” I know there are other slang terms that have been truncated this way, but I can’t really think of any examples at the moment other than “vaca” for “vacation.” It’s kind of a Valley Girl thing, I think. ---
**Author:** ![myrnajean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@myrnajean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myrnajean)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499/20 "2006-03-08T15:57:12Z")
Are you sure its not “bogart”? As in “Stop bogarting the joint and pass it!” which used to mean to hog something. I think it originated from Humphry Bogart’s name, who was also called Bogie… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-word-bogue/347499.md?page=2)