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I was recently watching a TV series named Suits where a character said "Oshkosh by Gosh". I googled it and all I could find was the meaning of bagash from this site.

Urban Dictionary - Bagash

What does this expression mean?

The scene was one where Harvey Specter and Mike Ross were high at Mike Ross's place, from Suits Season 2 Episode 10 (video):

Mike: Oh god, wow. I just got an image of you as a dad. With a little Harvey Specter all hair-gelled and like, pinstripped Oshkosh B'gosh. "Dad, don't play the odds, play the man. It's a win-win!" and you being like, "Go to your goddamn room." (TVTropes)

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    Do you mean Oshkosh by Gosh? – Jim Sep 03 '14 at 05:19
  • It's also possible it's a pun on "Oshkosh by Gosh", in which case the by gash probably doesn't mean anything. We need more context. – Peter Shor Sep 03 '14 at 05:20
  • Well, really, by Gosh is a euphemism for by God which is an exclamation of mild surprise especially when the surprise arises from finding that something is true when you thought it wasn't. – Jim Sep 03 '14 at 05:24
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    Most likely meaningless, even if the individual utterances map to words or expressions that you can find in a dictionary (even if it's the Urban Dictionary.) I can only imagine it comes from a regional accent pronunciation of Oshkosh by Gosh, as Jim mentioned. What TV show did this come from? What episode? – Canis Lupus Sep 03 '14 at 05:44
  • I can see that it's an interjection prank on the company oshkosh b'gosh, which is a brand name of children's apparel. www.oshkosh.com. – Blessed Geek Sep 03 '14 at 05:50
  • Yeah, it's a well-known advertising slogan (and subsequent brand name) of the Oshkosh clothing company. Half the farmers in the Midwest are wearing Oshkosh clothing. Lacking context I can only guess that it was used as a sort of comical minced oath. – Hot Licks Aug 11 '15 at 12:33

1 Answers1

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As BlessedGeek has noted, OshKosh B'Gosh is an American brand name of children's apparel, as well as its main slogan/tagline. Oshkosh is the city in Wisconsin where the firm was founded. The town in turn was named after a chief of the Mamaceqtaw (Menominee) people, in whose language the name means claw.

B'gosh is an abbreviated way of saying by gosh, a bowdlerization of by God.

Without the context, it is difficult to say what was intended by the reference. The character might have been evoking Midwestern wholesomeness or blue collar patriotism, or might have been mocking something or someone as corny, or might simply have been making a reference to the company or to Wisconsin.

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