2006-09-17 09:43:11 · 9 answers · asked by H H 1 in Food & Drink ➔ Beer, Wine & Spirits
Booze
The word has been around since the fourteenth century. It comes from the Middle Dutch verb busen, meaning to drink heavily, and first appeared in English as a verb spelled bouse. This is from a manuscript dating to around 1325:
Hail ye holi monkes . . . Late and rathe ifillid of ale and wine! Depe cun ye bouse.
And from Spenser's 1590 The Faerie Queene, I.iv.22:
And in his hand did bear a bouzing can,
Of which he supt so oft, that on his seat
His dronken corse he scarse upholden can
Folklore has it that this term for liquor comes from a Philadelphia distiller named E.C. Booz who prospered around 1840 by selling a popular spirit in bottles shaped like a log cabin. This is not correct. In addition to the British citations dating back to the fourteenth century, it has been in use in America since the early eighteenth century. Benjamin Franklin used the term boozy from 1722 and Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary has entries for boose and bouse meaning "to drink hard; to guzzle," and for boosy meaning "a little intoxicated; merry with liquor."
2006-09-17 09:49:00 · answer #1 · answered by Kevin C 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Ancient Anglo Saxon. A "bousing ken" was a tavern without accomodation; you could only drink and maybe get something to eat there. The word was originally spelled bouse, which was an old name for ale.
2006-09-18 00:59:21 · answer #2 · answered by anna 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Kevin is right....but may I add...
Middle English word "bouse" appeared, meaning "to drink," especially to excess (one of the synonyms listed in the Oxford English Dictionary is "to swill"). We had borrowed "bouse" from the Dutch "busen," meaning "to drink much alcohol" and we originally pronounced "bouse" to rhyme with "house." But in the 1700's we started to pronounce it with a long "oo" sound, and our modern spelling of "booze" is actually a phonetic representation of that new pronunciation.
2006-09-17 18:30:43 · answer #3 · answered by Yafunee 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Middle English "bouse" c1300
2006-09-17 09:52:14 · answer #4 · answered by fidget 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Booze comes from the Boozer. Or the Offy. Or you can get it cheaper off a crackhead outside Tescos.
2006-09-17 09:55:05 · answer #5 · answered by Kango Man 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Oh Camilla! Naughty!
2006-09-19 01:52:05 · answer #6 · answered by Tony h 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Now I think about it, it probably comes from the word "bamboozled" you know that lovely stupid confused state you get in to now and again, well I do anyway. Cheers, slainte!!
2006-09-17 13:20:04 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I also think the term was used by people underage drinking as a code name for alcohol! so they didnt get caught!
2006-09-17 11:15:59 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Gee! I learned something today,thanks Kevin.
2006-09-17 10:53:55 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋