# Do any “boo” other than the US or Canada or do they just whistle when pissed off? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 25, 2019, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203 "2019-08-25T06:05:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/1 "2019-08-25T06:05:45Z")
Asking for a friend… and the OP was MEANT to say do any other countries boo… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/2 "2019-08-25T07:01:23Z")
In Spain we know what “boo” means when used like that, but we’re more likely to yell or to describe in careful detail all the faults and defects of your ancestry, your children and your own genitalia. I’ve never seen whistling used to indicate anger. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/3 "2019-08-25T07:19:00Z")
ETA: sometimes in Spain people will whistle someone off once their throats are hoarse. It will be an occasional sharp note against a wall of “_¡fuera, fuera!_” (out with you) and yelled insults. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/4 "2019-08-25T08:17:57Z")
This is an interesting one. Whistling can, at least in the UK, be a particularly enthusiastic form of applause; but elsewhere the exact opposite -IIRC the fall of Ceausescu in Romania was signalled when the crowd at his last public speech (that you would have thought to be pre-organised in his support) started whistling (though, to digress, I’ve seen it suggested that that was somehow engineered by a faction in the regime, with KGB assistance). I think “boo” is mainly an Anglo-Saxon thing, but there are so many sorts of variants of “Oh!” that don’t sound that different. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/5 "2019-08-25T08:27:11Z")
But in the sports context, British crowds can be much more verbal, chanting and singing both in support of their own side and against the others (the politest of the latter might be "Who are all the pies?’). Or those close enough may make very personal insults about players - David Beckham was famously thrown off his stride by a remark about his wife. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/6 "2019-08-25T11:23:03Z")
New Zealand, Australian, and English sports crowds will boo the opposition at times. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/7 "2019-08-25T11:53:58Z")
I’m thinking it may of interest to reword the OP’s question as “do other cultures have a specific word or sound other than ‘boo’ and loud whistles to indicate they’re pissed off”. I mean, in English the word happens to be “boo”; in Spanish it happens to be “_fuera_”; but the act of “using a specific word which everybody understands to mean ‘this sucks’” is the same. It makes sense that different cultures will have different expressions, there’s nothing particularly negative about the sound of “boo”. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/8 "2019-08-25T15:49:35Z")
Canadians boo? I thought they were too polite. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/9 "2019-08-25T18:40:45Z")
“bu” (boo) and “å bue” (to boo) are in the Norwegian dictionary. The etymology references the English interjection “boo” though. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/10 "2019-08-26T06:19:45Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Canadians boo? I thought they were too polite. You’ve never been to my local sports bar, where “boo” is rather mild, and “Fuck you, [other team’s name],” at full volume, is much more common. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/11 "2019-08-26T17:30:58Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Canadians boo? I thought they were too polite. So you’ve never been to a Leafs game. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/12 "2019-08-26T17:47:44Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I’ve never seen whistling used to indicate anger. This doesn’t happen all the time in La Liga matches? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/13 "2019-08-26T21:41:57Z")
One of the most shocking audience reactions I’ve ever experienced was when a conductor played havoc with a classical piece (I don’t know what it was, I was young) and the audience hissed. The musicians actually looked more quietly triumphant than chagrined, leading me to believe they didn’t like his “interpretation” either. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-boo-other-than-the-us-or-canada-or-do-they-just-whistle-when-pissed-off/839203/14 "2019-09-19T20:34:49Z")
This was mentioned in a funny book I read someplace… Some places go “Booo…” Other nations hiss. Others (ancient Greeks) went “Argh!..”