boshter

See also: boshtër

English

Etymology

Unknown. Commonly aligned with bonzer and bosker, though exact connection not established.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adjective

boshter (comparative more boshter, superlative most boshter)

1. (Australia, slang, obsolete) Excellent; wonderful.
   • 1919, C. Hampton Thorp, A Handful of Ausseys, page 131:

     An' p'r'aps the owner uv the station 'll drive over with some boshter girls who been stayin' at the homestead, an' they'll come trippin' alorng the board, steppin' over the fleeces in their dinky little shoes an' stockin's yer can fair see through, an' as they step about yer pen or pass yer, yer nearly cut yer sheep, 'coz yer tryin' ter sniff up every bit uv the boshter scent wot they smells of.

   • 1956, Louis Lavater, The Sonnet in Australasia, a Survey and Selection., page 12:

     That kim up to the station I wus at; A boshter tabby, not too thin ner fat, En watto fer a hottie — ut the start.

   • 1988, Patricia Fullerton, Hugh Ramsay: His Life and Work, page 130:

     So glad to hear you're coming down to tear the Christmas poultry. It's boshter.

   • 2006, Pip Wilson, Faces in the Street, →ISBN, page 322:

     Hey, mate! Tell Captain Vincent I said he's a boshter seaman.

   • 2007, Mary Anneeta Mann, Anzac to Understanding, →ISBN, page 745:

     "A boshter night for a walk," I remarked, buttoning my coat about me.

Noun

boshter (plural boshters)

1. (Australia, slang, obsolete) Someone or something impressive and wonderful.
   • 1910, Bernard Dubois, The High Light: A Souvenir Volume, page 36:

     I remember once when l was repairin' a fault on the Coolgardie line sixty miles out a thunderstorm came on. It was a boshter!

   • 1921, Australian Garden and Field - Volume 48, page 54:

     That the champion Black-red Modern Game cockerel at the P. & K. Club's show was a “boshter."

   • 1922, Edward Dyson, The Grey Goose Comedy Company, page 60:

     "A boshter!" cried Billdad. "It'll knock 'em stiff." Was not Billdad a public performer himself, did not Billdad know?

   • 1995, Peter Fitzpatrick, Pioneer Players: The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson, →ISBN, page 69:

     He's quite a boshter - people say he's like me so you can guess his beauty.

Anagrams

• Hoberts, bothers