kibosh English · revision 1962

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkaɪˌbɒʃ/, /kɪˈbɑʃ/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkaɪˌbɑʃ/, /kaɪˈbɑʃ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) Etymonline notes that it looks Yiddish, but its first appearance, in Dickens's sketch of the largely Irish Seven Dials district of London, argues against this.^(Etymonline) Suggestions include Irish ''caip bháis'' “cap of death”, and a link with ''bosh'' “nonsense”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the phrase ''to put the kibosh on'', to dispose of finally or finish off (1836, as ''kye-bosk'').^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The phrase has kept its meaning of putting a stop to something.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary) In 19th-century slang ''kibosh'' could also mean nonsense (1873)^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) and “the proper style, the thing” (1889).^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary) The verb, to put an end to, is from 1884.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1836 – ''put the kye-bosk on'', in Dickens.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1873 – nonsense.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1884 – verb, to finish off.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1889 – the proper style.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something that checks or puts an end to something, chiefly in ''put the kibosh on''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' Nonsense.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put a stop to.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bosh]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}