Buster

Buster Buster Buster By Maeve Maddox A reader has a question about the word buster: Is the word buster ebonics or not? Where does this word come from? And how is it formed? The reader does not specify which of the several uses of buster prompted the question, but in any case, the word was in the language well before any significant development of the English dialect known as ebonics. Note: For readers unfamiliar with the term ebonics, the word was coined in 1973 and defined in 1975 by its proponents as â€Å"the linguistic and paralinguistic features which on a concentric continuum represent the communicative competence of the West African, Caribbean, and United States slave descendants of African origin.† The term quickly proved to be unwieldy and politically charged. A more neutral name for the distinctive English dialect associated with US black culture is African American Vernacular English (AAVE). The first nineteen or so  Africans  to reach the English colonies arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619, brought by Dutch traders who had seized them from a captured Spanish slave ship- just five years after the first documented use of buster in English. In the earliest citation in the OED (1614), buster is used to mean â€Å"a person who or thing which ‘busts’ a specified thing, or causes it to break or burst†: Now death, I pray thee what is it, but a buster of bonds; a destruction of toyle? (i.e., Death is seen as a â€Å"buster† of figurative chains, freeing people from bondage and toil.) This meaning of the word is evident in various terms. For example, a bronco-buster is a cowboy who prepares horses to be ridden by breaking their will to resist. Note: The Spanish adjective bronco means rough or rude. It was adopted into English as a noun to refer to an untamed or half-tamed horse. A gangbuster (1930) is an officer of a law-enforcement agency who is known for successfully, and often aggressively, fighting organized crime, breaking up gangs, and apprehending gangsters. Eliot Ness is a well-known gangbuster. By extension, gangbuster/s can mean something that is outstandingly successful; a winner, a hit. The word is used as both noun and adjective: Better than  last season, but not  gangbusters   I think this is going to be a  real gangbuster season. Another quarter, another three months where  gangbuster  growth remains AWOL.    My radio show is  going gangbuster.  I just picked up my third top-ten radio station in Chicago. The music business is  going gangbuster. Were celebrating all month  long  with a  gangbuster  sale. Another meaning of buster is â€Å"a person who or thing which is impressive or remarkable, especially in being more than typically large, loud, etc.† Presumably, the person or thing has â€Å"busted† a norm of some kind. The OED gives the example â€Å"What a buster of a lunch it turned out to be.† Buster is used as a form of address, sometimes with affection and sometimes with hostility. For example, a parent or babysitter might say to a child, â€Å"Time for bed, Buster.† On the other hand, someone being annoyed by a stranger might say, â€Å"Don’t come any closer, Buster, or I’ll call a cop.† The popularity of Buster as a nickname for little boys may owe something to the fame of the actor Buster Keaton (1895-1966). The son of vaudeville performers, Keaton was famous as a child actor long before his adult successes. According to legend, he acquired his nickname when he fell down a flight of stairs and Harry Houdini, who was present, quipped, â€Å"That was a real buster!† Keaton’s father immediately created â€Å"Buster Keaton† as his son’s stage name. The comic book character Buster Brown, created by cartoonist Richard F. Outcault in 1902,  was another cultural icon that popularized the name Buster. When a shoe manufacturer adopted the character as its logo in 1904, the name received a boost from national advertising. I suspect that plenty of Americans of a certain age can still sing the Buster Brown jingle. Buster is popular as a name for pets. Here are some reasons pet owners chose the name: We  named him Buster because  he had a busted nose.   My neighbor  named him Buster, cause he was a Buster to try and catch. You see my friends from the special ed place that my aunt works at  named him Buster because  he got into a lot of trouble and got caught.   I have  named him Buster because  he is somewhat bossy and pushy with my sisters steer.   I named him Buster because  he was tossed out of the car. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to use "on" and when to use "in"How to spell "in lieu of"The 7 Types of Possessive Case