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A.Word.A.Day--boffo

boffo (BOF-o) adjective

1. (Of a movie, play, or some other show) Extremely successful.

2. (Of a laugh) uproarious, hearty.

noun

1. A great success.

2. A hearty laugh.

3. A gag or punch-line that elicits uproarious laughter.

[Of uncertain origin. Probably a blend of box office or an alteration of buffo, bouffe, or boffola. The term was popularized by Variety, a magazine for the U.S. entertainment industry.]

"And until Apple records a boffo holiday season for the mini, it can't officially be called a runaway success." Alex Salkever; My Huge Mistake About the Mini; BusinessWeek (New York); Aug 19, 2004.

"His (Patrick Brown's) problem seems to me to be the demands of the production group of which he is a part and which requires a boffo hit every time in order to keep the auditorium packed ..." Norman Rae; Wheaties & Lilies & Severed P's; Jamaica Observer (Kingston, Jamaica); Aug 1, 2004.

This week's theme: slang.

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