The routes by which trade, encounters and learning reshaped English.
bosh (n.)
Collection
Words That Travelled
Bosh means nonsense or empty talk in English. It comes from the Turkish word boş, meaning empty.1
It became current in English in the nineteenth century through J. J. Morier’s 1834 novel Ayesha, the Maid of Kars. What was empty in Turkish became empty talk in English, and then nonsense.12
It is old-fashioned now, but it is still there.
You’re talking bosh.