boncer
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English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
In marble sense: British dialect (north Hampshire),[1] probably variant of bouncer (“a large thing”). In slang sense (= remarkable, excellent): replaced by voiced variant bonzer.[2]
Alternative forms[edit]
Adjective[edit]
boncer (comparative more boncer, superlative most boncer)
- (Australia, New Zealand, informal, obsolete) Remarkable; wonderful.
- 1918 June, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Prelude”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, chapter 8, page 45:
- The Trout boys had often spent the day with the Burnells in town, but now that they lived in this fine house and boncer garden they were inclined to be very friendly.
Etymology 2[edit]
Noun[edit]
boncer (plural boncers)
- (New Zealand, dated) A kind of large marble; a bonce.
- (New Zealand, Australia, informal, obsolete) Something remarkable, wonderful, excellent, etc.
- 1897 April 3, The Auckland Star, Supplement, page 2:
- ‘Of course the hero of the meeting was A.H. Holder, and let me tell you he is a ‘boncer’.
References[edit]
- ^ William H. Cope. 1883. Glossary of Hampshire Words and Phrases, page 10.
- ^ James Lambert "What Makes a Bonzer Etymology?" (3 September 2020) Green's Dictionary of Slang