beaucoup, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

beaucoup n.

also beaucoups, bookoo, buckoo, buku

[Fr. beaucoup, many; used WWI by Aus./UK/US forces; f. 1920s by blacks in some southern states (Louisiana, Florida, Georgia) but popularized in 1960s–70s by returning US soldiers, who picked it up from the Francophone Vietnamese]

(US) a large quantity of, a lot of.

[1760		Foote Minor in Works (1799) I 242: He is damn’d rich, has beaucoup de guineas].
1918		Sat. Eve. Post 9 Nov. 90: We’ve been spendin’ beaucoup francs lately for Uncle Sam.
1918		C. Sherwood diary 28 Sept. 🌐 Boucoup [sic] spuds and bread and jam in Y.M.[C.A.].
1919		H.J. Tudury diary 17 Aug. 🌐 We had to keep well under cover, as they had ‘Boo Coo’ enemy Scouting planes.
1919		Aussie (France) 12 Mar. 1/2: [handbill] Pas Oublier le Grand Concert [...] Bookoo Ragtime Tray Bon Chanteurs.
1925		Dos Passos Manhattan Transfer 282: I bet the skipper’s been drinkin beaucoup highballs an thinks Brooklyn’s Hoboken.
1928		(con. WWI) H.F. Cruikshank ‘So This Is Flanders!’ Battle Stories July 🌐 Me an’ Hank [...] hadn’t collected us nothin’ more than boocoo pay stoppages an’ extra doses of kitchen fatigues.
1933		Nicholson & Robinson Sailor Beware! I ii: That’s all right, honey, you got bokoo right to ’emou.
1936		(con. 1920s) Dos Passos Big Money in USA (1966) 801: To get married like I want I got to have beaucoup kale.
1947		(con. 1944) J.H. Burns Gallery (1948) 92: Beaucoup GI’s and officers ended up in Parker House.
1960		G. Swarthout Where the Boys Are 334: Beaucoup beers.
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 90: With all the whores here, I’ll have ‘boo-koos’ in a month.
1979		(con. c.1970) G. Hasford Short Timers (1985) 40: We rate some slack ’cause our squad wasted beaucoup Victor Charlies.
1982		(con. 1970) J.M. Del Vecchio 13th Valley (1983) 160: Damn. He had boocoo shit in here.
1985		(con. 1969–70) D. Bodey F.N.G. (1988) 218: ‘You go to a lot of games?’ ‘Beaucoup.’.
1988		Eble Campus Sl. Oct. 2: buku – a tremendous amount.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 9: I went to my own, as in bocoo bourbon and beer backs.
1990		(con. c.1970) G. Hasford Phantom Blooper 9: He took the bullet train to Kyoto, scarfed up beaucoup sake.
1991		Eble Campus Sl. Fall 1: boucous – large amounts.
1993		B. Moore Lex. of Cadet Lang. 54: booku [...] large; huge; many; a lot of; ‘stacks’.
1994		N. McCall Makes Me Wanna Holler (1995) 182: He was talking beaucoup trash.
1997		E. Little Another Day in Paradise 31: Went Nam [...] picked up bo-ku fuckin medals.
2002		D.H. Sterry Chicken (2003) 25: I fry boocoo buckets of chicken, and eat them by the stomachful.
2004		T. Winton ‘Boner McPharlin’s Moll’ Turning (2005) 280: I was in beaucoup shit.