Expert: Paul Wagner - 9/13/2004

Question
Can you tell me where the term came from to call a 2 liter bottle soda a "boss"?  I would like to find some validating information on the Internet, but have not been successful.  I would like to know, when and how it started.
Thanks!

Answer
Dear Wendy:

I can't really say for sure.  The word "boss" has a lot of meanings....and even traces its roots back to two different words.  The first is from the French, where it means a bump or protuberance--and is the root of our word emboss--meaning to push paper into an uplifted form.  But I think the term you want is from the Dutch, baas, which means master.  It comes from the original Africaans, and has been used for at least a generation to mean "cool."

e.g.  That's a boss car, man.  

I suspect that when the big bottles got put into the market, the word got adapted for them....but have never seen an explanation in print--or on the web.

Paul Wagner