Okay. So we may have sussed out [figured out] how "Bosco" chocolate syrup got its name-from the name of the owner William S. Scull (Bill) Scull.

(Could he have been called "boss Schull?)

And it seems likely that the Bosco puppet that was the star of the Irish television program got his name because he lived in a box.

And we know a lot more about the etymology of the word "bosky" than I bet lots of people nowadays do.

But it occurs to me that we still haven't figured out why the American cartoon character Bosko was given that name.

Earlier in this thread, I suggested that the creators of that cartoon character-which is based on a Black boy-chose that name as a way of insulting Black people (by alleging that even their children act in a drunken manner). But I offered that suggestion before I knew about the "wooded area" meaning of the word "bosky".

That meaning of "bosky" makes me wonder about the urban-rural schism that was prominent in the USA in the early 20th century-perhaps more than it is today. After all, during that part of the last century, a number of country folks were moving to the cities-and some of them may have retained their "country ways". The city folks looked down on those country "bumpkins" and the country folks were distainful of city folks-though that aspect is not part of my theory.

My new theory is that the name "Bosko" was meant to imply that some people would never truly be anything but "less than". In this context, I mean "less than White people".

I admit that I've never seen any of the Bosko cartoons, and all I know about those cartoons is what I've recently read. But I find it interesting that that character is described as a "boy" yet he has a girlfriend. So was that character a man or was he a boy? It occurs to me that it was customary to call a Black adult a boy even if he was an adult. Does the name "Bosko" for this cartoon character reflect the "casual" racism of that time as the depiction of the character appears to do? I think so.

So, to recap-I'm suggesting that the name "Bosko" was given to this cartoon character which was a minstrelized caricature of a Black boy/man to imply that he wasn't as good as White folks and never would be.

I arrived at this theory from 1.the meaning of the word "bosky" meaning wooded area [rural/"out in the country"] and 2. the schism between urban and rural folks which is reflected in American songs/movies/literature. and 3. the racism of the early 20th century when the Bosky character was created.

It's true that 1 and 1 and 1 don't always make 3 (?!). However, I think that I'm on to something here. Or maybe I'm out in left field or am down right "bosky"-that other definition of that word.

What do you think?