When something is bogus, it is not true or real, even though someone is trying to make you believe it is. A bogus ticket looks like a real ticket. A bogus story is a lie dressed up as news. People also stretch it: a bogus excuse, a bogus company, a bogus name.

when something is bogus當一個東西是bogus的時候, it is not true or real就是不真實、不是真的, even though someone is trying to make you believe it is就算有人想讓你相信它是真的。a bogus ticket looks like a real ticket一張bogus的票看起來跟真票一樣。a bogus story is a lie dressed up as news一則bogus的新聞是包裝成新聞的謊言。people also stretch it這個詞也會被用得更廣: a bogus excuse, a bogus company, a bogus namea bogus excuse(假藉口)、a bogus company(假公司)、a bogus name(假名字)。

It is informal — you hear it in speech and casual writing more than in careful legal English, where people prefer false or counterfeit.

it is informal這是非正式用語—— you hear it in speech and casual writing more than in careful legal English你在口語和輕鬆的文字裡比較會聽到,而不是在講究的法律英文裡, where people prefer false or counterfeit那裡的人比較喜歡用false(不實)或counterfeit(偽造)。

Though actually, the word started in a much narrower place. In 19th-century American underworld talk, a bogus was first the machine used to make fake coins, then the fake coins themselves. Later people used it for anything cheap or fake. Computer people later used it to mean useless or no good.

though actually不過其實, the word started in a much narrower place這個詞一開始的意思窄得多。in 19th-century American underworld talk在19世紀美國的黑話裡, a bogus was first the machine used to make fake coinsbogus最早指的是拿來做假硬幣的機器, then the fake coins themselves後來才變成指假硬幣本身。later people used it for anything cheap or fake之後大家開始用它來指任何廉價或假的東西。computer people later used it to mean useless or no good後來電腦圈的人又用它來表示沒用、不好的意思。

Where the word first came from, nobody knows for sure. Some people point to a Hausa word boko, “to fake,” and say it may have come to America on a slave ship; others say it is a short form of an old slang word tantrabogus, a menacing object. Both are only theories.

where the word first came from這個詞最早是從哪裡來的, nobody knows for sure沒有人真正確定。some people point to a Hausa word boko, “to fake,”有些人指出豪薩語(Hausa)裡有個字boko,意思是『造假』, and say it may have come to America on a slave ship認為它可能是隨著奴隸船傳到美國的; others say it is a short form of an old slang word tantrabogus, a menacing object也有人說它是舊俚語tantrabogus(一種嚇人的東西)的簡稱。both are only theories這兩種說法都只是理論。