1. to greedily covet something to the point of paranoia,
even when among
friends;
2. to knowingly and covertly attempt to consume a larger share of the communal weed than is proper, at the expense of one'
s homeboys/girls.
Origin
Refers to characteristics displayed by the actor Humphrey Bogart in his portrayal of Fred Dobbs in the 1948 motion picture, 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.' Dobbs is selfish and distrustful of his
friends and attempts to hoard for himself the gold that he and his companions discover while prospecting in Mexico.
In the movie, Bogart's character, Dobbs, and his
two prospecting buddies strike gold! The
minute they do, however, Dobbs becomes super greedy, selfish, and paranoid. When he is the one selected to go into town for supplies, he freaks out:
Dobbs: Why am I elected to go to the village? Why me instead of you and Curtin? Oh, don't think I don't see through that. You
two've thrown in against me. The two days I'd be gone would give you plenty of
time to discover where my goods are, wouldn't it?
Later, they're sitting around a campfire after having split up the gold from their claim. Dobbs is off the reservation at this
point and convinced the other
two are planning to take his share after he falls asleep:
Dobbs: Let's see, three times 35 - is a hundred and
five. I'll bet you 105,000 dollars that you go to sleep before I do...
He is threatening to
kill them and take their gold if they fall asleep. In other words, he is bogarting the shit out of that gold.