When non-Sabahans attempt to borrow expressions derived from the culture in Sabah, Sabahans tend to be critical over the authenticity of certain terms. Bos (which in English means “boss”) is a term of endearment that has found its way into the Sabah Malay lingo, according to linguist and anthropologist Trixie Kinajil Tangit. To understand the term “bosku”, she said it was important to look at the origin of the expression “bos” (the Malay language spelling) or “boss” (the English spelling) as widely used in Sabah by speakers of Sabah Malay. She said Sabah Malay speakers being mobile and found in Kuala Lumpur (KL) other than in Sabah may also lead to the question – is Sabah Malay now widely spoken in KL? The answer, she said would probably be “no” given that KL is not typically known to be representative of Sabah Malay speakers (that is people from Sabah from any ethnic background who speak Sabah Malay).

Source: The Star May 17, 2019 23:26 UTC