# Origins of "kibosh" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-kibosh/226631 "2004-01-29T20:05:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-kibosh/226631/1 "2004-01-29T20:05:31Z")
I looked this up on line at Merriam-Webster online and it said “origins unknown.” Really? Anyone have a more authoritative dictionary (well, better than [m-w.com](http://m-w.com) anyway, it _is_ the free version and not so thorough) that can provide a hint at the origins of “kibosh” or is it truly unknown? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-kibosh/226631/2 "2004-01-29T20:15:22Z")
The OED says: > [@](#): > > [Origin obscure. > (It has been stated to be Yiddish or Anglo-Hebraic: see N. & Q. 9th ser. VII. 10.)] It isn’t unusual for a slang term to be of uncertain origin, though. And that’s true of even more common words: the origin of “bird,” for instance, is unclear (some think it comes from “brood,” but the evidence is problematic). ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-kibosh/226631/3 "2004-01-29T20:17:07Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > I looked this up on line at Merriam-Webster online and it said “origins unknown.” > > Really? > > Anyone have a more authoritative dictionary (well, better than [m-w.com](http://m-w.com) anyway, it _is_ the free version and not so thorough) that can provide a hint at the origins of “kibosh” or is it truly unknown? The OED says it’s “obscure,” and that some speculate a Yiddish origin. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-kibosh/226631/4 "2004-01-29T20:22:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Contrary to popular opinion, kibosh is not Yiddish in origin. Charles Dickens is the first to use the word in print. Spelling it kye-bosk in 1836. The k spelling represents Cockney pronunciation. The origin is unknown. > > It is also apparently unrelated to bosh, meaning nonsense or foolishness. That word makes its appearance at about the same time, but is from the Turkish bos, meaning empty or worthless. The word was used in the J. Morier’s popular novel Ayesha in 1834. Cite: [http://www.wordorigins.org](http://www.wordorigins.org) ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-kibosh/226631/5 "2004-01-29T20:31:07Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The OED says: > It isn’t unusual for a slang term to be of uncertain origin, though. And that’s true of even more common words: the origin of “bird,” for instance, is unclear (some think it comes from “brood,” but the evidence is problematic). Ah! Thanks. That’s sort of what I was guessing, that it was like “shyster” with debatable history – presumably Yiddish or German roots, but never proven with any certainty (I vaguely remember a Straight Dope column about that one). I just never realized that “kibosh” was one of those and had always assumed it had a more readily traceable etimology. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![Quint\_Essence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/54ee81/32.png) [@Quint\_Essence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint_Essence)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-kibosh/226631/6 "2004-01-29T20:47:38Z")
It derives from Yiddish. This is the most popular explanation, though the details differ. One supposition is that it comes from the Yiddish word Kabas or Kabbasten, “to suppress”. Another view is much stranger, saying that it is an acronym formed from the initial letters of three Yiddish words meaning 18 British coins: the Hebrew chai for 18 and shekel, meaning coin, with British in the middle. But, as Leo Rosten argues, that ought to make kibrosh rather than kibosh. He does say that there was special significance in the number 18, since in gematria (an important method of divination among Jews at one time), this was the number equivalent of the word life. It is said by some (notably Julian Franklyn) to have an heraldic origin, being derived from caboshed which is the heraldic description of the emblem of an animal which is shown full-face, but cut off close to the ears so that no neck shows. The Irish poet, Padric Colum, believes the word originates in the Irish Gaelic phrase cie báis meaning “cap of death”. The word báis is apparently pronounced “bawsh” and cie is presumably pronounced with a hard initial consonant, rather like “kai”. Webster’s New World Dictionary apparently derives it from Middle High German kiebe, meaning “carrion”. [http://www.quinion.com/words/articles/kibosh.htm](http://www.quinion.com/words/articles/kibosh.htm) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-kibosh/226631/7 "2004-01-30T02:01:41Z")
**Quint**. If you’re gonna lift Quinion’s article in almost totality, at least lift the most important part. You merely listed the speculative suggestions. Michael started out his article by saying that no one actually knows.