## Definition
“Bosom buddies” are extremely close friends — people who share secrets, support each other unconditionally, and maintain a deep emotional bond. The phrase “bosom” (meaning chest or breast) suggests intimacy and closeness; “bosom buddies” are friends who are as close as family, sometimes closer. The term gained cultural prominence from the 1980-1982 ABC television sitcom *Bosom Buddies*, starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari as two young men who disguise themselves as women to live in an affordable women-only apartment building. The show was a modest ratings success but is remembered primarily for launching Tom Hanks’s career.
## Why It Matters
The concept of bosom buddies matters because it describes a relationship that is increasingly rare in modern life. Research consistently shows that Americans have fewer close friends than they did decades ago: the percentage of people who say they have no close friends has quadrupled since 1990. The term “bosom buddies” evokes a specific kind of friendship — one that is sustained, intimate, and resilient — that many people feel they lack. The internet has changed friendship: social media creates the illusion of connection while often reducing the depth of relationships. The bosom buddy is the antidote to this shallowness: someone who knows your history, your flaws, and your fears, and chooses to stay anyway.
## Example
The TV show *Bosom Buddies* (1980-1982) was a typical early-80s sitcom: two struggling men (Kip and Henry, played by Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari) need cheap housing and find it in a women-only building. Their solution: dress as women. The premise was absurd, but the show’s charm came from the friendship between the two leads. Hanks’s performance was already distinctive: his comic timing, his physical comedy, and his ability to make absurd situations feel grounded. The show was cancelled after two seasons, but Hanks went on to become one of the most successful actors in Hollywood history. The term “bosom buddies” outlived the show, becoming a standard phrase for close friendship.
## Internet Angle
The internet has both helped and hindered bosom buddy relationships. On one hand, social media allows people to maintain contact across distance and time zones, and online communities can provide the kind of support traditionally associated with close friendships. On the other hand, the internet encourages breadth over depth: having 500 Facebook friends is not the same as having one bosom buddy. The term appears in internet culture primarily as nostalgia: “Remember when we were bosom buddies?” posts on Facebook, or references to the Tom Hanks show in “career retrospective” content. The concept of deep friendship has not disappeared, but it has been diluted by the internet’s preference for quantity over quality.
## Related Terms
– **Best friend**: The modern equivalent of a bosom buddy
– **Tom Hanks**: The actor whose career began with *Bosom Buddies*
– **Peter Scolari**: Hanks’s co-star on the show
– **Sitcom**: The genre that *Bosom Buddies* belonged to
– **Cross-dressing**: The comedic premise of the show
– **Friendship recession**: The sociological phenomenon that makes bosom buddies rarer
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