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THE TERM "BOCHE."

HOW IT ORIGINATED. 1 \ M. sl. L. Sainean has written a letter to "Le Temps," explaining the origin of the word "Boche," now universally applied to Germans in the fighting line. It is a clipped form of caboche, a low Latin word for noddle (caput, head). In 18GG it appeared in a slang dictionary as mauvais sujet. If 1 next seemed to take on (perhaps prophetically) the meaning of numskull, or bungler. About the time of the. Franco-Prus-sian W T ar of 1870 it was applied to German workmen in French workshops. Alboche is a sort of a compound of Allemand and boche. Bosche is incorrect. These explanations are given in the "Journal of Education."

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SUNCH19150803.2.97

Bibliographic details

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 462, 3 August 1915, Page 12

Word Count
118

THE TERM "BOCHE." Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 462, 3 August 1915, Page 12

THE TERM "BOCHE." Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 462, 3 August 1915, Page 12

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