[Ads-l] BOGO (when the second item is not free)

Sun May 31 22:07:50 UTC 2015

To me, the phrase "buy one get one" (without the "free") implies that 
buying one stands in opposition to getting one; in other words, buying 
something doesn't necessarily mean getting it. This is why I don't like 
the acronym BOGO. You're buying one and getting two.

Neal

On 5/31/2015 5:08 PM, victor steinbok wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: BOGO (when the second item is not free)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I've been monitoring this issue for several years now and this broader
> interpretation of BOGO has been in use in *advertising* for well over a
> decade. Several stores, such as Target, Payless and Kohl's, use the "BOGO
> Sale" promotons so specifically to identify the use of "buy one, get on at
> X% discount", where the discount varies by the category of item but never
> reaches 100% (that is, tge second item is never free).
>
> Worse, Staples and others have used the initialism to describe promotions
> where one has to buy multiple items to get a free one (e.g.,
> buy-two-get-one-free or buy-three, etc.). I haven't seen this in use at our
> local supermarket that uses "buy-one-get-two-free" occasionally. But I have
> heard it described in casual interpretatation as "buy one get [discount]
> off [another]".
>
> VS-)
>
> On 1:47pm, Sun, May 31, 2015 ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: BOGO (when the second item is not free)
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Apologies to Barry for not examining the very valuable entry that he
>> has about BOGO,
>>
>>
>> http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/bogo_or_bogof_buy_o=
>> ne_get_one_free/
>> <http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/bogo_or_bogof_buy_o=ne_get_one_free/>
>>
>> A 1992 citation that Barry listed revealed that the meaning
>> encompassed a second item at half price.
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> 11 November 1992, Florence (AL) TimesDaily, =E2=80=9CBargain hunters scout
>> stores for new deals=E2=80=9D by Martin Sloane, pg. 1C, col. 2:
>> If you shop at the Farm Fresh supermarket in Virginia, you probably
>> know what a =E2=80=9CBOGO=E2=80=9D sale is.
>>
>> If you live in Princeton, Ill., you may have shopped in a new grocery
>> store called BOGO=E2=80=99s. If you are a smart shopper who enjoys a
>> bargai=
>> n,
>> then you defnitiely look for BOGOs.
>>
>> What is BOGO?
>>
>> The letters literally stand for =E2=80=9Cbuy one, get one.=E2=80=9D What
>> do=
>>   you get?
>> Well, in many cases if you buy one product, you get a second for free.
>> Other times the second product is available at half price.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Garson
>>
>>
>> On Sun, May 31, 2015 at 12:34 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole
>> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------=
>> ------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>>> Subject:      BOGO (when the second item is not free)
>>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
>> ------
>>> In April I saw the following sign at the entrance to a store in an
>>> outlet mall in northern Florida.
>>>
>>> [Begin excerpt of text on sign]
>>>
>>>           BOGO
>>> BUY ONE T-SHIRT
>>>   GET ONE 1/2 OFF
>>>         --- MB ---
>>>        SPORTS
>>> Officially Licensed
>>>
>>> [End excerpt]
>>>
>>> This sign did not accord with the definition provided on Wikipedia
>>> because the second item was not free.
>>>
>>> Bogo
>>> (disambiguation page on Wikipedia; viewed May 31, 2015)
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogo
>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>> BOGO or BOGOF, an initialism for buy one, get one free, a common form
>>> of sales promotion
>>> [End excerpt]
>>>
>>>
>>> Yet, the definition at the Urban Dictionary website allowed for the
>>> possibility of "some lesser value". Has the meaning shifted over time?
>>>
>>> BOGO: urbandictionary (viewed May 31, 2015)
>>> http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=3DBOGO
>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>> BOGO
>>> Buy One, Get One (free or some lesser value)
>>> that sale in produce, is it BOGO?
>>> by stu f. May 04, 2004
>>> [End excerpt]
>>>
>>>
>>> The Oxford English Dictionary has an entry for BOGOF but there is no
>>> entry for BOGO.
>>>
>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>> BOGOF, n.
>>>
>>> Etymology:  Acronym < the initial letters of the advertising slogan
>>> buy one get one free.
>>>
>>> 'Buy one get one free': a retail offer whereby a customer who
>>> purchases a particular item receives another such free of charge; an
>>> item obtained in this way.
>>>
>>> 1985   Progressive Grocer June 91   A recent buy-one, get-one-free
>>> (BOGOF) promotion.
>>> [End excerpt]
>>>
>>> Garson
>>>
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>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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Dr. Neal Whitman
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