# Bubba: Who is he and why is he so rapey? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520 "2015-02-12T23:29:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/21 "2015-02-13T19:16:26Z")
I’ve heard, somewhere, that “bubba” is a corruption of “brother” (brother - brotha - brudda - bubba). A form of colloquial address, as in “Hey Bubba, lets us go have a few beers”. As a term of gentle derision it’s generally taken to mean a big, kinda-dumb-but-amiable hick. I think the darker connotation, as in prison, rapey, etc. is a fairly recent thing. When Bill Clinton ran for pres. there was talk of “the bubba vote” meaning He could tap into the Southern good 0l’ boy voter faction. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/22 "2015-02-13T19:35:56Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > The only Bubba I’ve ever known personally was black. That was a nickname, though. Shows what I know. I always heard about southern whites called “Bubba”, but it seems like it’s a southern thing not a southern white thing. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/23 "2015-02-13T19:53:30Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > I’ve heard, somewhere, that “bubba” is a corruption of “brother” (brother - brotha - brudda - bubba). A form of colloquial address, as in “Hey Bubba, lets us go have a few beers”. As a term of gentle derision it’s generally taken to mean a big, kinda-dumb-but-amiable hick. I think the darker connotation, as in prison, rapey, etc. is a fairly recent thing. When Bill Clinton ran for pres. there was talk of “the bubba vote” meaning He could tap into the Southern good 0l’ boy voter faction. See humorist and southerner Lewis Grizzard on the topic of the Bubba stereotype in [Chili Dawgs Always Bark At Night](http://www.amazon.com/Chili-Dawgs-Always-Bark-Night/dp/0345367081). Two articles in a section called “They Call Him Bubba”. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/24 "2015-02-13T19:56:39Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > The only Bubba I’ve ever known personally was black. That was a nickname, though. My Bubba was a Golden Retriever. Sure do miss that guy. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/25 "2015-02-13T20:12:10Z")
I had a friend who went by Bubba, mainly because he called everybody else ‘Bubba’. He was definitely one of those guys who ogled every female around, and not in a nice way; more of an open-mouthed, slitty-eyed, heavy breathing sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/26 "2015-02-14T01:06:37Z")
There was a black Bubba on the old _Sanford & Son_ sitcom. He was Fred’s best friend. [Here’s a clip of him and Fred](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ28UkZtO2s) going into a gay bar because they were afraid Fred’s son had ‘turned’ (back when you could make wildly broad gay jokes)… ---
**Author:** ![EdwardLost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@EdwardLost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardLost)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/27 "2015-02-14T01:43:39Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > I’ve heard, somewhere, that “bubba” is a corruption of “brother” (brother - brotha - brudda - bubba). A form of colloquial address, as in “Hey Bubba, lets us go have a few beers”. As a term of gentle derision it’s generally taken to mean a big, kinda-dumb-but-amiable hick. I think the darker connotation, as in prison, rapey, etc. is a fairly recent thing. When Bill Clinton ran for pres. there was talk of “the bubba vote” meaning He could tap into the Southern good 0l’ boy voter faction. This thread went a long way before someone pointed this out. “Bubba” and “Sissy” are childish ways of saying “Brother” and “Sister”. It’s not unusual in the South to address your siblings as Brother and Sister. I guy who retains “Bubba” as a nickname into adulthood might be someone who never fully grew up, someone who’s happy to stick around home, no interest in education, satisfied with just getting by, hanging out with his old friends, drinking bear, blowing stuff up. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/28 "2015-02-14T01:48:27Z")
My hillbilly son-in-law refers to his son as Bubba when speaking about him to another sibling (e.g., “Sissy, go see what Bubba’s doing.”) ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/29 "2015-02-14T08:02:49Z")
> [@EdwardLost](#): > > This thread went a long way before someone pointed this out. “Bubba” and “Sissy” are childish ways of saying “Brother” and “Sister”. It’s not unusual in the South to address your siblings as Brother and Sister. I guy who retains “Bubba” as a nickname into adulthood might be someone who never fully grew up, someone who’s happy to stick around home, no interest in education, satisfied with just getting by, hanging out with his old friends, drinking bear, blowing stuff up. His own bruin? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/30 "2015-02-14T18:12:26Z")
Remember that, in _ **Forrest Gump** _, Forrest’s pal Bubba says, “My name is Benjamin Blue, but they call me Bubba, just like one of them old rednecks. Can you believe that?” Bubba USED to be a nickname associated with white rednecks, but it’s been widely used by blacks for a long time now. Now, when I first moved to Texas in 1986, you used to read about “Anti-Bubba Laws” being passed in many Southern states. The idea was that Southern states were trying to modernize and get more progressive, and “Bubba” was the generic name for white good ol’ boys who liked the South the way it was. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/31 "2015-02-14T18:46:31Z")
Searching the imdb, the first rapist Bubba in movie history is some actor named [Dennis Burkley](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0122036/?ref_=tt_cl_t10) in what seems to be a cheap\* Straw Dogs\* knock-off titled _[Nightmare Honeymoon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGc2w9utvEI)_. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/32 "2015-02-14T22:07:17Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Shows what I know. I always heard about southern whites called “Bubba”, but it seems like it’s a southern thing not a southern white thing. [Bubba Watson.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubba_Watson) Born in the northern, meaning culturally southern, part of Florida. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/33 "2015-02-15T12:33:15Z")
I got a chuckle out of [this poster](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Lets_Go_to_Prison.jpg) when the movie first came out. Context and all that… And yes, it does have a ‘Bubba’ ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2015, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520/34 "2015-02-15T13:37:39Z")
Here’s another example of traditional Bubba culture: [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGw2y5_oDA4) Sadly the vid is audio-only, but you’ll definitely understand that Bubba was white. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bubba-who-is-he-and-why-is-he-so-rapey/712520.md?page=1)