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English Idiom
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Bogus 冒牌
Anything that is "bogus" is not real. It tries to be real and may even look so, but it is not. The only thing real about "bogus" is that it is pure American, born in the early 1800s.
No one is sure where the word came from. The first time it appeared in print was in 1827 in Ohio. At that time, police found a group of men who were coining fake money. A large crowd gathered around to look at the strange machine that was used to make the counterfeit money. Someone in the crowd said that the machine looked like a "bogus". The next day the local newspaper used the word and it became part of the language.
The machine used by counterfeiters was called a bogus press (1). And counterfeit or false money was soon called bogus money. As the years passed any article that was not the real thing was called bogus.
But that is only one story about the birth of "bogus". The Boston Courier, a newspaper that died a long time ago, said that the word came from a famous swindler (2) with the Italian name of Borghese.
Borghese became famous by writing bad checks, cashing them at banks and stores, then leaving town in a hurry. In 1837, Borghese was known throughout the South and the West for his worthless checks, bills of exchange and notes. In time, the newspaper said, the name Borghese was shortened to "bogus".
Today we have bogus money, bogus mines, bogus hair, bogus diamonds and so on.
Notes: 1. 冒牌造币机 2. (n.) 骗子
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