In AAVE, the word “boo” means something akin to significant other, main squeeze, etc. Whence does the usage of this word come? (I’d be more than grateful if there have been previous threads on this subject to which someone can direct me, but you can’t search for words that are three letters or less here.)
Urbandictionary.com offers up a couple of theories: namely, that it either derives from “booty” or from “beautiful” (“beau” in French). However, while the Urban Dictionary is useful when attempting to glean a vague definition of that trendy new word that all the damn kids are using nowadays, I don’t trust it for my etymological needs.
So, Doper!Etymologists (not to be confused with Doper!Entomologists ), what about it?
Incidentally, the Urban Dictionary is chock-full of entertainment value on an idle afternoon. Some particularly perceptive definitions of “boo”:
I’m not sure if this will satisfy you (in fact, it shouldn’t), but I discovered three bits of info. from the Oxford English Dictionary (oed.com) that I will now share:
boo (as in booing a bad performance) is meant to replicate the sound of lowing oxen
boo is an older slang term for ganja
the word “bo” (short for boy) is an old-timey familiar form of addressing a male (like our “man” or “dude”)
If the urban dictionary’s explanation (boo from beau) is off, then I’ll guess that boo just comes from boy…
It wasn’t uncommon for the English upper classes to refer to someone’s suitor as their ‘Beau’ (in French the masculine form of the adjective for beautiful); in fact my huntin’ shootin’ fishin’ godmother in her 70s does just that even now. I have no idea if ‘boo’ comes from this but ‘beau’ in this sontext does exsist.
), what about it?