different between bogus vs charlatan

English

Etymology

First attested as an underworld term for counterfeit coins. Later, the word was applied to anything of poor quality. The newest use to mean useless is probably from the slang of computer hackers.

The origin is unknown, but there are at least two theories that try to trace its origin:

• From Hausa boko (“to fake”). Since bogus first appeared in the United States, it may be possible that its ancestor was brought there on a slave ship.
• From criminal slang as a short form of tantrabogus, a 19th-century slang term for a menacing object, making some believe that bogus might be linked to bogy or bogey (see bogeyman). In this sense, Bogus might be related to Bogle – a traditional trickster from the Scottish Borders, noted for achieving acts of household trickery; confusing, but not usually damaging.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?b??.??s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?bo?.??s/
• Rhymes: -????s

Adjective

bogus (comparative more bogus, superlative most bogus)

1. Counterfeit or fake; not genuine.

   Synonyms: phony; see also Thesaurus:fake
2. Undesirable or harmful.
3. (computing, slang) Incorrect, useless, or broken.
4. (philately) Of a totally fictitious issue printed for collectors, often issued on behalf of a non-existent territory or country (not to be confused with forgery, which is an illegitimate copy of a genuine stamp).

   Synonym: illegal
5. Based on false or misleading information or unjustified assumptions.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

bogus (uncountable)

1. (US, dialect) A liquor made of rum and molasses.

Related terms

• calibogus

English

Etymology

From Middle French charlatan, from Old Italian ciarlatano (“quack”), a blend of ciarlatore (“chatterer”) + cerretano (“hawker, quack”, literally “native of Cerreto”) (Cerreto di Spoleto being a village in Umbria, known for its quacks).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /????l?t?n/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /????l?t?n/
• Hyphenation: char?la?tan

Noun

charlatan (plural charlatans)

1. (obsolete) A mountebank, someone who addresses crowds in the street; (especially), an itinerant seller of medicines or drugs.
   • 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, vol I, ch. 38:

     The poor foreigner, more dead than alive, answered that he was an Italian charlatan, who had practised with some reputation in Padua […] .

2. A malicious trickster; a fake person, especially one who deceives for personal profit.

   Synonyms: trickster, swindler; see also Thesaurus:deceiver

   • 2018 (June), Ian Murray in The Independent

     That this disgraceful charlatan holds one of the great offices of state in this country should be a source of constant shame and embarrassment to the Prime Minister.

Related terms

• charlatanism
• charlatanry

Translations

French

Etymology

From Italian ciarlatano. Pejorative meaning first recorded 1668.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?.la.t??/

Noun

charlatan m (plural charlatans, feminine charlatane)

1. (dated) a streetseller of medicines
2. a charlatan (trickster)
3. a quack

Further reading

• “charlatan” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle French

Noun

charlatan m (plural charlatans)

1. a street-seller of medicines

Descendants

• ? English: charlatan
• French: charlatan

Swedish

Etymology

From French charlatan. Cognate of English charlatan, German Scharlatan.

Noun

charlatan c

1. fraudster, deceiver

Declension

Derived terms

• charlataneri

References

• charlatan in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• charlatan in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• charlatan in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)