BOSKER DAYS
all the jokers? If your first thought is Batman, then my point is made. I was thinking of those jokers, of that joker over there. The word that is used to mean men in a way that is slightly jocular, gently contemptuous. It’s a long time since this has happened in my presence. Possibly it is endangered, used only by a decreasing number of New Zealanders, or maybe it’s just me that has moved out of earshot and the word still thrives. Either way, the question got me thinking about another piece of slang once used in this country, “bosker”, which I have only ever seen in print, specifically, within the Depression-era stories of Frank Sargeson. “So we all stuck our feet into cow-pats, and after walking over the frost it was bosker and warm sure enough,” says the narrator of one. It is a cheery presence in
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