bogan

¹

[boh-guhn]

noun

Northern Maine and Canadian (chiefly Maritimes and Northern New Brunswick).

1. a backwater, usually narrow and tranquil.

2. any narrow stretch of water.

Bogan

²

[boh-gan, boh-guhn]

noun

1. Louise, 1897–1970, U.S. poet.

bogan

¹

/ ˈbəʊɡən /

noun

1. a fool

2. a hooligan

bogan

²

/ ˈbəʊɡən /

noun

1. Also called: logan.  pokelogan. (esp in the Maritime Provinces) a sluggish side stream

Word History and Origins

Origin of bogan¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; apparently shortening of pokelogan, perhaps conflated with bog ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of bogan¹

C20: of unknown origin

Origin of bogan²

of Algonquian origin

Example Sentences

Except this is a "bogan" version translated by Ander Louis, the pen name of a Melbourne IT worker who moonlights as a writer.

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That all changed earlier this year when a New York-based tech writer stumbled across the bogan version, posting excerpts from Louis' book in which he describes Napoleon as an "alright bloke", the high-ranking Prince Vasili as "a pretty big deal" and Princess Bolkónskaya as "smoking hot".

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"Most Australians would know if you said 'speaks bogan' or 'bogan Australian' that the language would be highly informal with many slang and colloquial words and phrases, including uniquely Australian ones."

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Characters in his bogan version say "g'day", friends are "mates" and those with questionable ethics are deemed "shonky".

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Bogan, a term which first emerged in Australia in the 1980s, initially meant an "unsophisticated and uncultured person" with negative connotations, but not for Louis.

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