kibosh

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English

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WOTD – 9 February 2023

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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The origin of the noun is uncertain; the following etymologies have been suggested:

  • According to Antony Awaida, the word Kibosh كباش means "arm wrestling" which consists of blocking an adversary's arm in Lebanon and nearby countries. This is closer in sound and meaning than the etymology proposed below: Kurbash which means Lash or whip in Arabic.
  • According to Gerald Leonard Cohen, Stephen Goranson, and Matthew Little, at present the most likely derivation is as a non-rhotic variant of kurbash (“heavy whip, lash”),[1][2] from Arabic كُرْبَاج (kurbāj, “lash, whip”), or from its etymon Ottoman Turkish قرباچ (kırbaç, “lash, whip”) (whence Turkish kırbaç (“whip”)).[3][4]
  • From Irish caidhp bháis (literally “death cap”), said to denote, among other things, the black cap worn by English judges when pronouncing the death sentence, the hood put on a person before they were put to death by hanging, or a form of torture called pitchcapping.[3] However, there appears to be no convincing evidence that the term was used in these senses.[5][6]
  • From a Yiddish word (compare Hebrew כָּבַשׁ (kavásh, “to conquer, subjugate”));[3] however, no such word has been found.[7]
  • From Middle English cabochen (“to cut off (the head, chiefly of a deer), behead”),[8] from Middle French cabocher (“to cut off (the head)”), from caboche (“the head”) (Northern France, informal) (whence Middle English caboche (“head of cabbage”)),[9] from Italian capocchia (“the head”) (derogatory), ultimately from Latin caput (“the head”).[10] The Middle English word is said to have been adopted in Cockney slang; however, how this is supposed to have happened remains unexplained [11]
  • A clogmakers’ term kibosh (“iron bar about a foot long that, when hot, is used to soften and smooth leather”).[11]

The verb is derived from the noun.[12]

Noun

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kibosh (uncountable)

  1. (slang) Chiefly in put on the kibosh or put the kibosh on: something which checks or restrains.
Alternative forms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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kibosh (third-person singular simple present kiboshes, present participle kiboshing, simple past and past participle kiboshed)

  1. (transitive) To decisively put a stop to or terminate (someone or something).
    • 1943 July 17, “Philly Kiboshes Blackout Tutoring”, in The Billboard: The World’s Foremost Amusement Weekly, volume 55, number 29, Cincinnati, Oh.: Roger S. Littleford Jr.; William D. Littleford, →OCLC, page 6, column 1:
      Philly Kiboshes Blackout Tutoring [title] […] Plan of the Pennsylvania State Council of Defense to ring in a State-wide network of 45 stations for an "educational" blackout test, was nixed by the Office of Censorship after it was okayed by the Third Service Command of the army. Skedded for Thursday (8), purpose of the broadcast was to educate public with air raid warning signals and all Pennsylvanians were urged to listen to instructions as broadcast.
    • 1947 September 6, “Paul Baron Nixes 2 Morgan Albums”, in Joseph G. Csida, editor, The Billboard: The World’s Foremost Amusement Weekly, volume 59, number 35, Cincinnati, Oh.: Roger S. Littleford Jr.; William D. Littleford, →OCLC, page 14, column 3:
      Deal for network star Henry Morgan to sign a Majestic contract for two albums has fallen thru, with Paul Baron, newly-named artist and repertoire topper at the diskery, kiboshing a deal that virtually had been consummated between his predecessors and Music Corporation of America (MCA).
    • 1987 December 1, Peter Megargee Brown, “We Have Met the Enemy: The Terrible Truth about Lawyers by Mark H. McCormack, William Morrow, New York, N.Y., 260 pages; $17.95 [book review]”, in Laurence Bodine, editor, ABA Journal: The Lawyer’s Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: American Bar Association, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 127:
      His second book is full of spirited advice on how to do business deals. According to [Mark] McCormack, this often amounts to keeping lawyers from kiboshing the deal.
    • 1996, David Quammen, “So Huge a Bignes”, in The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, published 2004, →ISBN, page 239:
      But this discovery, as cheering as it was, also kiboshed the hypothesis about different-colored varieties of H. simus in different reasons, because the dozen animals at Kianjavato were charcoal gray, just as [Patricia] Wright had originally expected.
    • 2003 September 17, Michael Billington, “Theatre: A Woman of No Importance, Haymarket Theatre, London [review]”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎[7], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-17:
      At which point, Mrs Arbuthnot enters to kibosh her son's prospects, only to be told, when the family facts emerge, that she should marry the high-born roué who has ruined her.
    • 2007 November 20 (date written), Chris Mullin, “2007”, in Ruth Winstone, editor, Decline and Fall: Diaries 2005–2010, London: Profile Books, published 2010, →ISBN, pages 213–214:
      It appears some chump at Revenue and Customs has, against all rules, put a disc or discs containing 25 million child benefit records – names, addresses, National Insurance numbers, bank account details, the lot – in the post and inevitably it has gone missing. […] As several people pointed out, with particular reference to ID cards, this kiboshes any notion that confidential information is safe in government hands.
    • 2010 May 15, Andrew Anthony, “Yes, the Capello Index wasn’t a good move, but remember Glenn?”, in The Observer‎[8], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-10-11:
      Fortunately the FA [Football Association], in a rare moment of decisiveness, stepped in to kibosh the plan.
    • 2015 June 26, Ali Catterall, Julia Raeside, John Robinson, David Stubbs, “Friday’s best TV”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎[9], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-17, subtitle:
      Extensive highlights from Glastonbury, an Allied mission to kibosh the German A-bomb and a homage to Arthur Ashe.
    • 2021, Roy Schwartz, “The Galactic Golem”, in Is Superman Circumcised?: The Complete Jewish History of the World’s Greatest Hero, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, part III (Mensch of Steel: Fulfilling Jewish Fantasy and Faith), page 166:
      Superman bashed Bavarians and kiboshed Krauts with a mix of solemn consecration, righteous anger and cathartic glee.
Translations
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Etymology 2

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Possibly a variant of bosh (“nonsense”).[3]

Noun

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kibosh (uncountable)

  1. (British, slang, obsolete, rare) Bosh, nonsense. [19th c.]
    • 1885 January 3, ’Arry [pseudonym], “’Arry on ’Appiness”, in Punch, or The London Charivari, volume LXXXVIII, London: […] Bradbury, Agnew, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 4, column 1:
      Still I wish you a 'Appy New Year, if you care for the kibosh, old Chappie, / Though 'taint 'Igh Art Cards full o' gush and green paint 'll make you and me 'appy. / Wot we want is lucre and larks, love and lotion as much as you'll carry!
    • 1887 April 9, ’Arry [pseudonym], “Studies from Mr. Punch’s Studio. No. XXIV.”, in Punch, or The London Charivari, volume XCII, London: […] Bradbury, Agnew, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 172, column 2:
      Gar'n! Gives me the 'ump, all this kibosh 'bout morals, and taste, and all that.

Etymology 3

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Origin unknown.

Noun

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kibosh (uncountable)

  1. (British, slang, obsolete, rare) Chiefly preceded by the: fashion, style.
    • 1904 March, George Ade, “Rugged Hiram and Hiram’s Giddy Wife”, in Breaking into Society, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 34:
      She was, in very Sooth, among the highest of the Rollers, but Hiram stood for the Bills with nary a Whimper. He was proud to be the Husband of the Lady Ki-Bosh of the Local Knickerbockers.

References

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  1. ^ Gerald Cohen, Stephen Goranson, Matthew Little (2018) Origin of Kibosh (Routledge Studies in Etymology), Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN; cited in Ben Zimmer (2017 December 29) “Putting the kibosh on an old riddle: The source of the phrase”, in The Wall Street Journal‎[1], New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 6 December 2022.
  2. ^ Gerald Leonard Cohen, Stephen Goranson, Matthew Little (2019 May) “Kibosh Update #4 (Compilation)”, in Comments on Etymology‎[2], volume 48, number 8, Rolla, Mo.: Missouri University of Science and Technology, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 1–50.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 “kibosh, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2022.
  4. ^ “kurbash, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2022; “kurbash, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  5. ^ Cohen et al. (2018) Origin of Kibosh, pages 98–102, reproduced in Gerald Leonard Cohen, Matthew Little, Stephen Goranson (2020 February) “Revisit to Kibosh – Rejecting the Irish ‘Cap-of-death’ Etymology”, in Comments on Etymology‎[3], volume 49, number 5, Rolla, Mo.: Missouri University of Science and Technology, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 2–12.
  6. ^ According to Cohen et al. (2020), this etymology was first questioned in Michael Quinion (created February 17, 1996, last updated March 27, 2016) “Kibosh”, in World Wide Words.
  7. ^ Gerald Leonard Cohen, Matthew Little, Stephen Goranson (2020 March) “Revisit to Kibosh – OED3’s Tentative Consideration of a Yiddish Origin for Kibosh in ‘Put the Kibosh on’ should be Definitively Set Aside”, in Comments on Etymology‎[4], volume 49, number 6, Rolla, Mo.: Missouri University of Science and Technology, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 2–13.
  8. ^ “kibosh, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  9. ^ “caboche, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  10. ^ “† caboche, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2022.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Anatoly Liberman (2013 August 14) “Three Recent Theories of ‘Kibosh’”, in OUP Blog‎[5], archived from the original on 4 October 2022.
  12. ^ “kibosh, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “kibosh, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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