[Ads-l] Antedating of "Bodacious"

[Ben Zimmer]

GDoS has cites for the relevant sense of "bodacious" from 1905 and 1907 in
baseball contexts.

---
https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/d2w4jbq
bodacious adj.
1. (US) excellent, wonderful, very enjoyable; also as adv.
1905 Salt Lake Trib. (UT) 28 May 4/1: F. Clarke, who plays such bodacious
ball for the Pirates, is a mighty killer of the furry game.
1907 Chicago Daily Trib. 6 May 6/1: Overall was good, so was the descendant
of kings, and the fielding was bodacious if anybody knows what that means.
---

Here's a slightly earlier version of the 1905 cite. (Note also it's "furry
game" with no "the" as given by GDoS.)

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https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press-bodacious/197525638/
Pittsburgh Press, May 13, 1905, p. 10, col. 4
Mr. F. Clarke, who plays such bodacious ball for the Pirates this year, is
a mighty killer of furry game, ranking next to President Roosevelt.
---

--bgz


On Thu, May 14, 2026 at 9:29 AM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> bodacious (OED, Additional Sense a., 1976)
>
> 1934 Nancy Cunard Negro Anthology 75
>
> Bardacious: marvellous.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
>

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