bogus

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 14, 2010 is: bogus • \BOH-gus\  • adjective : not genuine : counterfeit, sham Examples: Kelly knew that the letter informing her that she was a grand prize winner was bogus, so she threw it in the trash immediately. "The scheme appears aimed at getting the food business operator to make a confirmation phone call that would allow others to create a false identity and set up an auction site on the Internet to sell bogus items." -- From an article by Larry Carson in The Baltimore Sun, November 2, 2010 Did you know? You may know "bogus" as a slang word meaning "uncool" or simply "no good," but did you know that "bogus" has actually been a part of English since the early 1800s? Not only was the word coined then, it was actually doing some coining of its own, so to speak. Back then, a "bogus" was a machine used to make counterfeit coins. No one knows for sure how this coin-copying contraption got its name, but before long "bogus" had also become a popular noun for funny money itself or for a fraudulent imitation of any kind. The more general "phony" adjective followed shortly thereafter. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.