Word: bossa
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Nobody is sure just what it is, or even what its name implies: according to various experts, the Portuguese slang expression bossa nova can mean "the latest thing" or "the new beat" or "the new wrinkle." Bossa literally means a protuberance, but in the argot of Rio, it connotes a natural talent or knack, as in the line, "The Duke has a lot of bossa." The only points everybody is agreed on are that 1) bossa nova is a weird crossbreeding of cool jazz with chili-peppered Latin rhythms and 2) it is big, and getting even bigger...