Boss (pronounced bos or baws)
(1) A person who employs or supervisors workers; a manager;
a person in charge of a business or company.
(2) A politician who controls the party organization, as
in a particular district (historically most associated with the Democrat &
Republican party “machines” in US cities from the mid-nineteenth to the late
twentieth centuries and notorious for devious, corrupt or illegal practices and
still used in many countries where the US influence was strong, notably the Philippines.
(3) To be master of or over; manage; direct; control; to
be a boss.
(4) To order about (used especially if conducted in an
officious manner.
(5) To be too domineering and authoritative (often as “bossy”).
(6) To ornament with bosses; to emboss.
(7) In slang, first-rate; the best.
(8) In botany & zoology, a protuberance or roundish
excrescence on the body or some internal organ of an animal or on a plant.
(9) In geology, a knob-like mass of rock, especially an
outcrop of igneous or metamorphic rock, applied particularly to the uppermost
part of an underlying batholith.
(10) An ornamental protuberance of metal, ivory, etc; a stud.
(11) In architecture, an ornamental, knob-like
projection, as a carved keystone at the intersection of ogives.
(12) A stone roughly formed and set in place for later
carving.
(13) In bookbinding, one of several pieces of brass or
other metal inset into the cover of a book to protect the corners or edges or
for decoration.
(14) In engineering, a small projection on a casting or
forging appearing on a machine or fitting; an area of increased thickness,
usually cylindrical, that strengthens or provides room for a locating device on
a shaft, hub of a wheel etc
(15) In nautical use, a projecting part in a ship's hull
or in one frame of a hull, fitting around a propeller shaft.
(16) In plumbing, to hammer (sheet metal, as lead) to
conform to an irregular surface.
(17) In dialectal (northern English) use, a familiar name
for a calf or cow.
(18) In dialectal (Scots) use, hollow.
(19) As the abbreviation BOSS, the Bureau of State
Security; an apartheid-era branch of the South African security police which
existed 1969-1980.
(20) In informal use (particularly in India and in Multicultural
London English (MLE)), a term of address to a man, not of necessity related to
employment, status or other relationships but also as an alternative of “guv” or
“guvnor”.
(21) In video gaming, an enemy, often at the end of a
level, that is particularly challenging and must be beaten in order to progress
(from the Far East), from the Japanese ボス (bosu). In Swedish, the related form is slutboss (the construct being slut (end) + boss (boss)
and synonymous with sista bossen).
(22) In (allegedly) humorous use, one’s wife.
(23) In archery, a target block (now constructed usually
of hard foam but historically made of hay bales), to which a target face is
attached.
(24) In building, a wooden vessel for the mortar used in
tiling or masonry, hung by a hook from the laths, or from the rounds of a
ladder.
(25) In hydrology, a head or reservoir of water.
(26) A hassock or small seat, especially made from a
bundle of straw (obsolete).
1250–1300: From the Middle English bos, bose & boce,
from the Anglo-French boce (lump,
growth, boil), from the Old French boce
(lump, bulge, protuberance, knot), from either the Frankish bottja or the (unattested) Vulgar Latin bottia, both of uncertain origin but probably
related to the Italian bozza (metal
knob, swelling) and the Proto-Germanic bautaną
(to hit, strike, beat). By the turn of
the fifteenth century, it was used in the sense of “to swell out; to beat or
press into a raised ornament” and by the 1620s as “to furnish with bosses”. The word survives as the Modern French bosse.
The (highly nuanced) use to mean “a supervisor” dates
from the 1640s and was a creation of US English, from the Dutch baas (master, foreman). The Dutch baas
was from the Middle Dutch baes (master
of a household, friend), from the Old Dutch baso
(uncle, kinsman), from the Proto-West Germanic baswō, from the Proto-Germanic baswô
(uncle) which may have been from the Proto-Germanic ba- or bō- (father, older
male relative), the source also of the English terms babe, boy, bub & bully.
It was cognate with the Middle Low German bās
(supervisor, foreman), the Old Frisian bas
(master), hence the Saterland Frisian Boas
(boss) and the Old High German basa (father's
sister, cousin) from which German gained Base (aunt, cousin) (although not all
etymologists are convinced there’s a link with the Old High German basa).
The etymology seems to suggest the word originally was a term of respect
used to address an older male relative (usually an uncle but also even others
considered “honorary uncles”). Later, in
New Amsterdam (the old name for New York), it came to mean “a person in charge
who is not a master (in the legal sense of ownership) and the representation of
the Dutch -aa- by the English -o- is attributed to the older, unrounded
pronunciation of this letter, which remains prevalent in North America and
parts of Ireland, but in the colonial era existed also in some British accents. The Dutch form baas is in English from the 1620s as the standard title of a Dutch
ship's captain and the rapid adoption in the US may have reflected the
popularity of a word which avoided the slavery implications of “master”,
something never necessary in England where the terms master & servant were
included in legislation into the twentieth century.
Lindsay Lohan released the track Bossy in May 2008. It was classified as electropop & dance-pop and was about a bolshie woman; it’s thus considered autobiographical.
The slang adjective meaning “excellent; first rate” was
in use at least by the 1880s although it faded from use before being revived (perhaps
independently) in the 1950s, in the slang of US youth and jazz musicians. The adjective bossy was developed from the
noun and in the 1540s meant “a swelling, projecting and rounded, decorated with
bosses” The meaning “domineering, fond of ordering people about” was first noted
in 1882. The use as the Scots adjective meaning
“hollow; empty” dates from the early sixteenth century and is of obscure origin. The northern English dialectal form which was
a familiar name for a cow or calf was first documented in 1844 and was from the
earlier dialectal form buss (calf)
which is of uncertain origin but is thought almost certainly from the Latin bōs cow (ox), from the primitive
Indo-European root gwou- (ox, bull,
cow). The verb emboss (to ornament with
raised work) dated from the late fourteenth century and was from the Old French
embocer (and thus a similar form to embocieure (boss, stud, buckle), from an
assimilated form of the construct en-
(in, into) + boce (knoblike mass). The synonyms, depending on context includes administrator,
chief, chieftain, director, employer, executive, leader, owner, supervisor,
capital, champion, fine, fly, top, controller (or comptroller), executive,
foreman, foreperson, head, honcho, head honcho, overseer & superintendent. Boss is a noun, verb & adjective, bosser
& bossiness are nouns, bossed is a verb, bossing is a verb & adjective,
bossily is an adverb and bossy is an adjective; the noun plural is bosses.
The Boss Mustangs
During the initial development phase in 1968-1969, the
project code for Ford’s Boss Mustang programme was the bland “SKO” (Special
Mustang, Kansas City Operation).
According to industry legend, secrecy was maintained by instructing the
staff working to the prototype to respond to any questions about the vehicle by
saying “it’s the boss’s car”. Whether or
not that’s true, it was the project's boss (the chief engineer) who suggested the
“BOSS” name formerly be adopted as the official model designation and although the
management team initially responded with restrained enthusiasm, the production
cars emerged as 1969 models as the “Boss Mustang” and the response was so good
it was continued for three seasons and the corporation has over the decades
revived the name, both in the US and Australia.
The first of the line was the Boss 302,
introduced in 1969. The Boss 302 existed
solely to ensure Ford would have a competitive entry for the SCCA’s (Sports Car
Club of America) Trans-Am series which was conducted in two classes, one for
cars with engines up to 2.0 litres (122 cubic inch) and one with a five litre
(305 cubic inch) limit, the Mustangs campaigned in the latter. Ford had enjoyed early success in the series
but Chevrolet’s Camaro had prevailed in 1968, its Z/28 package optimized for
the road circuits on which the events were conducted and Ford’s initial response had been the “Tunnel Port”
engine, developed with cylinder heads cleverly designed for top end power at
the expense of just about everything else.
The tunnel ports certainly delivered the power but the high-revving
engines proved chronically unreliable although the debate about whether this
was a fundamental flaw in the design or some laxness in the preparation has
never been resolved and their performance in competition over the decades
since does suggest that if assembled and maintained with the appropriate care,
they’re a robust unit.
However, noting the care with which the Z/28 had been
configured, Ford decided to follow their example and conceived the Boss 302
Mustang with a bucket of money in one hand and plans of the Trans-Am’s circuits
in the other. Added to the robust 302
cubic inch (4.9 litre) Windsor block were more modern cylinder heads with
canted valves, emulating the approach adopted for the new Cleveland (335)
series V8. Unlike the highly strung
tunnel ports, the Boss 302 had a wider power band and more low-speed torque,
characteristics more suited to the race tracks.
To comply with the homologation rules, 1000 identical examples had to be sold but such was
the demand 1628 were built, all fitted with the modifications to the brakes and
suspension required to provide the basis of a successful race car. Despite it all, the Camaro again won the
series in 1969 but the Boss 302 returned to take the title in 1970 and that
year's model proved even more popular with 7013 sold.
The homologation of the Boss 302 for
competition was a simple matter in that it was a complete package, as required
under SCCA rules. The Boss 429 Mustang
was different in that it was only the engine which was required to be built is
sufficient numbers, 500 required for them to be used on the NASCAR (National
Association of Stock Car Auto Racing) ovals & circuits and with 857 built
in 1969 (a further 499 1970 models were also produced), the threshold was reached. The
Mustang was not used in the main NASCAR events but such was the symbiotic relationship between
the sanctioning body and the manufacturers that Ford was granted permission separately
to homologate the platform and the powerplant, the intermediate Torino Talladegas (actually to be used) with their aerodynamic enhancements produced in their run of 500 (which may or
may not have been produced in time) but fitted with ordinary engines. So cooperative was NASCAR that they even
nudged their capacity limit to 430 cubic inches to accommodate Ford’s new engine
which was just slightly larger than the previous 7 litre mark. Ford's approach sounds needlessly complicated (as well as being expensive) but market research suggested that while
demand would exist for at least 500 Boss 429 Mustangs, 500 Ford Torinos & Mercury Cyclones (the models actually used in NASCAR competition) with the big engine might be hard to shift.
The decision was thus taken to put the Boss 429 in the pony car but it was not a simple task and one certainly not appropriate for Ford’s high volume, mass-production lines so the job was out-sourced to a third party which received a series of deliveries in two parts, (1) batches of complete cars and (2) crates containing engines. The task was to remove the existing engine (to be returned to the factory), make the necessary modifications to the body and suspension, fit the Boss 429 and attend to all the small details which made the cars into regular production models. The concept was simple but the wide engine wouldn’t fit without significant changes and although Ford never revealed how much of a loss it made on each Boss 429, estimates by "normally reliable sources" figured it in the low four figures (ie more than US$1000) per unit. Still, they must have been pleased with the investment because the engine did the job in NASCAR and the aura surrounding the Boss 429 Mustang has grown over the years. That however took a while because it wasn’t wholly suited to life on the street or the drag-strip and was at its happiest only when on a racetrack at full throttle, breathing in through a very big carburetor and out through free-flowing tubular headers. On the street, the problem was the same as that which plagued the tunnel port 302: the huge intake ports meant a lack of low-speed responsiveness (ie low-speed torque) because there was insufficient pressure for the fuel/air mix. The professionals however learned quickly, the pioneers of the then still novel business of turbo-charging finding the Boss 429 took to forced aspiration like few others.
The one-off, mid-engined Mustang Boss 429 (left) and the adapted drivetrain package (right). Unusually (although in 1969 anything mid-engined was "unusual"), the gearbox was in front of the engine with the differential behind, the same arrangement which two years later Lamborghini would display when the prototype Countach LP500 made its debut at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show.
One quirky footnote in Boss 429 statistics is that although the orthodoxy is all were fitted with four-speed manual gearboxes, three were built with Ford's C6 automatic transmission. One was a "proof of concept" mid-engined car which is believed to have been crushed once the evaluation was process was complete while the other two were part of a fleet of seven (the other five powered by the 428 CobraJet engine) built for the "1970 Military Performance Tour", a program run in response to the alarming finding the death toll of soldiers buying muscle cars after returning from tours of duty in Vietnam was close to battlefield losses. One of the automatic Boss 429 Mustangs survived and the unique machine is still in private hands. The mid-engined car was built under the program code LID (Low-Investment Drive-train), an allusion to things being done "on the cheap", using as many off-the-shelf components as possible. As a car, the thing worked well but despite the weight-distribution shifting from a nose-heavy 60/40 (front-rear) to 40/60, surprisingly, there was no significant improvement in performance.
Times had changed by 1971. It was obvious to all the crazy era of the
muscle cars was in its last days and both the Boss 302 and 429 were retired,
the tasks of homologation done. There
was however a Boss 351 Mustang, a machine with no pretensions to any real link
with competition although it was dressed up to look the part. A development of Fords 335 (Cleveland) series, it's an engine at which the purists have sometimes looked askance because it lacked the extensive lubrication enjoyed by the Windsor which underlay the Boss 302s but for street use it's certainly more than adequate. The lack of pedigree has meant the Boss 351
has never enjoyed the stellar reputation of its predecessors and its lines
doubtlessly contributed to that, the new body bigger and heavier, lacking the
litheness of the earlier years. Even
when standing still however the thing undeniably had a presence although the dramatic
roofline (said to be highly aerodynamic) did restrict rearward visibility, the
glass close to horizontal.
It may not have enjoyed the racing history of the Boss 302 or possessed the thoroughbred lineage of the Boss 429 but lurking behind all the thunder, the Boss 351 ranks with the best of the Chrysler 340s as one of the most under-estimated engines of the era and contemporary reports were impressed with the performance, noting it could run with machines fitted with engines sometimes 100 cubic inches (1.6 litres) larger while at the same time delivering a better driving experience, the smaller, lighter weight over the front wheels making it rather more nimble although that phrase was relative; the Boss 351 was no Lotus Elan. The engine technically was Ford’s short-lived 351 HO which would soon fall victim to the increasingly restrictive emission regulations but demand was anyway falling; having sold over 7000 Boss 302s in 1970, only 1806 Boss 351s were made.
Lindsay Lohan, Bossy (2008)
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