BOGOF is used as a noun as in 'There are some great
bogofs on at the supermarket' or an adjective, usually with
a word such as 'offer’ or 'deal’ — 'there are some great
bogof offers in store'.
When you combine the first letters of the words in
a phrase or the name of an organisation, you have an
acronym. Acronyms are spoken as a word so NATO (North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation) is not pronounced N-A-T-O.
We say NATO. Bogof, when said out loud, is quite comical
for a native speaker, as it sounds like an insult, 'Bog off!’
meaning go away, leave me alone, slightly childish and a
little old-fashioned.
BOGOF is the best-known of the supermarket
marketing strategies. The concept was first imported from
the USA during the 1970s recession, when food prices
were very high. It came back into fashion in the late 1990s,
led by big supermarket chains trying to gain a competitive
advantage over each other. Consumers were attracted by
the idea that they could get something for nothing. Who
could possibly say 'no’?