[Ads-l] Bog standard

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Google Books has a match for "bog standard" in an issue of a
periodical called "New Society" that probably was published circa
1969. The snippet indicates that the phrase was employed in the
automotive domain. The phrase was used in the description of a car,
but it is easy to see how the meaning could be extended to yield the
modern semantics.

Year: 1969
Periodical: New Society
Volume 14
Quote Page 446
Database: Google Books Snippet; data is incomplete and may be
inaccurate; search for "1969" displays snippets from issues published
in 1969

https://books.google.com/books?id=lPMqAAAAMAAJ

[Begin extracted text]
It has become the custom of the industry to quote a basic selling
price that applies only to a car so bog-standard that no one would
normally want to buy it (no heater, no windscreen washers, no
reversing light, no external mirrors, no carpets, ...
[End extracted text]

There a few more pertinent matches for "bog standard" in "Motor Sport"
earlier in the 1960s. Here are two examples:

Year: 1968
Periodical: Motor Sport
Quote Page 289
Google Books Snippet: Searches show that 1969 cars are for sale, but
1970 is a future date
https://books.google.com/books?id=TypBAQAAIAAJ

[Begin extracted text]
I know Porsche make a hot 91 IS and a hotter 91 1R, but my Jaguar is
bog-standard
[End extracted text]


Year: 1962
FOR SALE — continued
Periodical: Motor Sport
Quote Page 282
Google Books Snippet; search for "1962" displays snippets from issues
published in 1962
https://books.google.com/books?id=8VhEAAAAIAAJ

[Begin extracted text]
BOG STANDARD SPRITE, 1959, two owners,.
[End extracted text]

Below is a match in the railroad domain

[Begin raw match that I have not examined; looks like the railroad domain]
The Journal of Transport History - Page 125
https://books.google.com/books?id=WqG5ftgqegQC
1961 - Snippet view - More editions
The track on the Clifden line consisted of 65 Ib. flat-bottomed rails
laid on half round cross sleepers, while on one large bog standard
M.G.W.R. 79 Ib. rails were employed. After completion of the line the
company ran some of its heaviest ...
[End raw match]

Garson

On Sun, Feb 19, 2017 at 2:29 PM, Mark Mandel <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks. Still puzzled, but at least I know I'm not alone.
>
> On Feb 19, 2017 1:40 PM, "Michael Quinion" <
> michael.quinion at worldwidewords.org> wrote:
>
>> Used by a blogger I follow who, when queried, explained thus:
>>
>> It's a slang term I picked up from my extended family, of British origin
>> (and sometimes spelled bog-standard or even bogstandard). It means utterly
>> ordinary, unremarkable, and unexceptional.
>
> For more see http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bog1.htm
>
> --
> Michael Quinion
> michael.quinion at worldwidewords.org
> http://www.worldwidewords.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org