What does boff mean?
Boff is informal slang with two distinct meanings on either side of the Atlantic. In British usage, chiefly in theatrical and show-business circles, a boff is a loud, hearty laugh — the kind of explosive audience reaction every comedian hopes for. This sense flourished in early twentieth-century variety theatre and newspaper reviews, where writers coined related forms such as 'boffo' and 'boffola' to describe material that killed with audiences. In American slang, by contrast, boff functions as a coarse verb meaning to have sexual intercourse with someone, a usage familiar from crime fiction and tabloid journalism. Both senses are decidedly informal: the theatrical noun now sounds dated and nostalgic, while the sexual verb remains vulgar. Because of its similarity to 'boffin' — British slang for a scientific expert — the word is easily misread, so context matters. For most modern readers, boff is best known as a colourful relic of show-business lore.
A loud, hearty laugh, especially one from an audience.
"The sketch landed a boff every single night of the run."
Now largely confined to writing about vintage show business.
(US slang, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse with someone.
Coarse register; avoid in formal writing.
Regular plural; used when counting laughs or instances.
"The comedian collected boffs all evening long."
In old show-business slang, a comedian's dream was to 'stop the show with a boff' — one laugh so big it brought the act to a halt.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of boff
Boff emerged in American English in the late nineteenth century as theatrical slang, likely imitative in origin, capturing the sound of sudden explosive laughter. It spread through vaudeville and Variety-style journalism, spawning derivatives such as 'boffo' and 'boffola'. A separate, later American slang use as a verb for sexual intercourse developed independently in the twentieth century.
Related word forms
How boff is actually used
Informal and dated in most contexts. As a noun for a laugh, it survives mainly in discussions of vintage show business and Variety-style reviews. The sexual sense is coarse American slang and should be avoided in polite writing. Do not confuse it with 'boffin', which means an expert or scientist.
Easily confused with boff
A 'boffin' is British slang for a scientist or technical expert, while 'boff' refers to a loud laugh or, in American slang, an act of sex.