Date   : Fri, 03 Feb 2006 21:50:12 +0000
From   : Richard Gellman <splodge@...>
Subject: Re: Making a 3.5" Beeb floppy drive

Colin f wrote:

>  
>  
>
>>I always understood "bog standard" to imply cheap & cheerful 
>>(or cheap & 
>>nasty) stuff, as opposed to high-end gear - which may also 
>>come straight out 
>>of a box. Bog standard... the stuff that might as well be 
>>flushed down it.
>>    
>>
>
>Indeed it does, and there is no conclusive evidence that it derives from
>'box-standard'.
>There's a show running on the BBC called Balderdash & Piffle that is looking
>at origins of English words and phrases, and this is one that is on their
>list:
>http://www.oed.com/bbcwordhunt/bog-standard.html
>
>  
>
Coming in late on this one, the etimology of this term was covered by 
Stephen Fry on the end of an episode of QI. The origins actually lend 
two terms in common use. When Meccano was first made, it was released in 
versions:

1. Box Standard - A basic set for the finanincally pushed providing 
hours of fun for the child, from whence we derive "Bog Standard", 
meaning "nothing special".

2. Box Deluxe - The more expensive ultimate set for the construction 
enthusiast, from whence we derive (albeit through a lot of coloquial 
corruption) "Dog's Bollocks", meaning "the best you can get".

</trivia>

-- Richard