Booz and Booze

  Where does the word “booze” come from?  I’ll begin by telling the truth, but let me tell you a Philadelphia story, too. Let me start by saying that it is an adaption of the middle Dutch word “būsen”, which means “to drink to excess”, into the middle English word “bousen” in the 14th century.  The use of the English word “booze” didn’t appear in writing until the 17th century.  There are other options for the possible origins of the word from Germany, but the Dutch seems the most likely.  Though it is often dismissed, as a Philadelphian, I cannot dismiss the possibility that E.G. Booz had something to do with the term being used more often… Edmund G.Booz was born in 1824 in Bristol, PA in Bucks County.  He was a very successful liquor merchant that...