bogart, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

bogart v.

also bogard, bo’guard

1. (orig. US black) to act aggressively, in a bullying manner; to enter without invitation; used verbally as synon, for dozens n. (1) (see cite 1974).

1965		‘SWAP Dict. Teen-age Sl’ in Ebony Mar. 98/2: Bogart: to muscle through — as in ‘Dig up, let’s grab a boss broad and bogart our way into a boss jam’.
1966		Current Sl. I:2 1/2: Bogart, v. To injure or hurt, or to protect at the cost of violence.
1967		M. Braly On the Yard (2002) 197: ‘Hey there, Cool Breeze, how you get here?’ ‘Cool Breeze jus’ bogart his way in.’.
1971–2		C. Shafer ‘Catheads [...] and Cho-Cho Sticks’ in Abernethy Bounty of Texas (1990) 198: bo’guard, v. – to bully your way into something: to bo’guard one’s way.
1974		H.L. Foster Playin’ the Dozens 198: Sometimes, ‘loud mouthing’ or ‘loud talking,’ ‘sounding,’ ‘screaming on someone,’ or even ‘bogarding’ are synonyms for ‘woofing’.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 102: ‘Like, you be wid a girl. Dude come up, bogard you, get in d’ way’ [...] You can also bogart in more physically overt ways: ‘Like, you be dancin’, somebody try cut you. Move in on yo’ space. Take up all the room.’.
1985		G. Tate ‘Atomic Dog’ in Flyboy in the Buttermilk (1992) 29: Clinton one day got the bold idea to head for Detroit and try to bogart his way into a Motown recording deal.
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 bogard Definition: to bully or force ones way into an event. In reference to the old movie performances of Humphrey Bogart. Example: ‘Homey, we don’t need no tickets all we got to do is Bogard our way into the place because ain’t nobody really on the door!’.
2015		P. Beatty Sellout (2016) 16: Ample bosoms first, she hops the rail, bogarts her way past the cops, and bolts towards me.
2022		J. Hannaham Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit 219: I’m tryna Bogart him into lovin me back.

2. to retain something selfishly, esp. to monopolize or smoke too much of a cannabis cigarette; thus as n. bogart, a person who retains something selfishly.

1967		Maurer & Vogel Narcotics and Narcotic Addiction (4th edn) in Maurer Lang. Und. (1981) 284/2: bogart. To take more than one’s fair share, usually by violence.
1971		E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972) 37: bogart [...] v. 1. (d) Take longer than necessary to pass a marijuana cigarette.
1972		O. Hawkins Ghetto Sketches 117: There go Fred Lee again, bo’gardin’ the smokes.
1979		Lette & Carey Puberty Blues 102: ‘Ey! Don’t bogart it Johnno.’ Johnno was a hog.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 230: bogard/bogart [...] 3. Take more than one’s share of (especially puffs of a marijuana cigarette).
1994		Rebennack & Rummel Under A Hoodoo Moon 197: Lawyers was bogarting all my money.
1997		(con. 1970s) G. Pelecanos King Suckerman (1998) 67: Are you Bogartin’ that shit back there?
1999		Guardian Rev. 9 July 13: Wake up and bogart those smoking riffs.
2000		P. Beatty Tuff 111: When y’all used to bogart my tape deck, I liked that nigger’s music.
2005		A. Lovejoy Acid Alex xvi: I am a shameless digresser and the World’s Worst Bogart.

3. to waste time, to play around.

1972		‘Soulful Spider’ ‘Pimp in a Clothing Store’ in Milner & Milner (1972) 288: Now I hate to short-stop your whole conversation like this, you know, ain’t bogarting, but your stuff is right here. On our job, we don’t be shuckin’ and jivin’ with no malformies out in the street. We here.
1983		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 1: bogart – goof off, not to do one’s share.

4. (US campus) to leave.

1996

Eble Sl. and Sociability 101: Farewells are often the equivalent of I must leave now and use various slang substitutes for leave. For example [...] gotta plus bogart, bolt, boogie, book [...] all of which mean ‘leave, depart’.

5. (US teen) to steal.

1998		M. Ferguson ‘Unstoppable Sl.’ in Columbia Missourian 19 Oct. 1A; 8A: bogart – to steal.
2012		M. Lacher On the Bro’d 13: [L]ocking up my tequila so Ty wouldn’t bogart it.

6. (US campus) to take something with someone else’s knowledge but without their approval.

2001

Eble Campus Sl. Fall 2: BOGART – take something with someone else’s knowledge but not approval.

In phrases

bogart a joint (v.) [joint n. (5c); based on the idea of Humphrey Bogart’s alleged greediness in this area; popularized in the film Easy Rider (1969)]

(drugs) to take more than one’s fair share of a cannabis cigarette; by ext. salivating on the cigarette that is held overly long between the lips.

1968		Elliot Ingber & Larry Wagner ‘Don’t Bogart Me’ 🎵 Don’t bogart that joint, my friend / Pass it over to me. / Don’t bogart that joint, my friend / Pass it over to me.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 210: one who clings to a joint for longer than his allotted toke [...] Humphrey (fr hip sl Bogart a joint = hogging a joint).
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 103: Named after Bogie who use let d’ cigarette hang on his lip ’n git wet. So when ‘bogart a joint’, you let it hang on yo’ lip.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 83: When a person takes two or more tokes before passing the ‘joint,’ or just holds it too long allowing the joint to burn wastefully, he is said to be bogarting the joint.
1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 It has been theorized that the term is an allusion to Humphry Bogart, an American actor who always had a cigarette hanging from his lips. To ‘bogart’ a joint, then, would be letting it hang from one’s lips without passing it on.
2001		OnLine Dict. of Playground Sl. 🌐 bogart n. This means to use or take too much of something. For some reason, only heard its use in reference to smoking pot, as in ‘Hey man, don’t Bogart that joint.’ [...] To bogart a joint then, is not to take too much, or more than your share, but to waste it by holding it while talking or whatever, and letting it burn to no one’s benefit.