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Boo and booing

ThomasK

Senior Member
Belgium, Dutch
I have read a lot about booing and saying "Boo!" recently. That got me wondering: what is the "boo" word in your language? And: what are derivations based on it, like to "to boo" --- or in Dutch "boe-geroep" (boo calling, boo shouting)?

As for Dutch (Beigian):
- mainly: awoe, boe(hoe) perhaps, bah (?? --- That is mainly rejection, not personal, like you dislike food, or an event, or ... )
- derivations:
+ boegeroep (shouting, calling)
+ boeman (scary person, maybe booing us originally)
+ kiekeboe (// peekaboo): catching attention by saying "Kiek" [kijk, warch!] + boo [used to surprise it by a mixture of fun and surprise, even fear, I think]
Not linked as far as I can see: the beuh [bØ] by cows
Hi, ThomasK. :)

In Italian, it is, well, "Buu!" (pronounced almost identically to English: /ˈbuu/).
It can also be written "buh!", similar to other Italian interjections (but the latter is primarily used as a sound made to scare).
It's not a neologism, though: the De Mauro dictionary dates it back to 1829.

As for the verb, we don't have one: we simply say "fare buu" (literally "to make a boo"), as is used in these cases (for example, "fare ciao" means "to wave goodbye" ;)).
For starters:

Cymraeg/Welsh

bw! /bu:/, bo! /bo:/, boh! /bo/ - The interjection, boo!

bwio /'bʊ.jo/, bŵan /'bu:.an/ (South Wales) - booing

English - compounds

peekaboo/peek-a-boo - A game often played with babies when you hide your face for a short time and then reveal it again with the shout of, 'peek-a-boo'.

pee-bo - As above

peek-a-boo clothing - Usually female clothing which give a tantalising glimpse of bare flesh and then hide it again. (Etymology based on the baby's game, mentioned earlier.
___________

b-(o) for 'cow(s)' is a very ancient Indo-European word, as can be seen in, e.g. LAT. bovis, ENG. bovine, IRE. bó, WEL. buwch. The Ancient Celts used cattle as a form of currency, or 'good(s)'. You can still see elements of this today in the lexicon: WEL. da byw (literally, 'good life') is 'livestock'. None of these, I venture to say, have any connection with the 'booing' sought in the OP.
In Portuguese, the interjection is bu,.the noun is vaia and the verb is vaiar.
I have read a lot about booing and saying "Boo!" recently. That got me wondering: what is the "boo" word in your language?
No clear equivalent in Russian, it seems. A sound intended to frighten someone will be likely written as бу [bu], but there's no similar exclamation of disapproval. Фу [fu] is way too polysemic (yuck; phew; boo; "don't do that" for dogs). The crowd usually expresses (or used to express) disapproval with loud whistling, hence 'to boo (someone)' > perf. освистать (osvistát'), literally ~"to whistle (somebody) all over".
Could it not be that our boo/ boe/... has developped from sounds to scare someone (off) to a broader meaning of disapproval, whereas yours has not? Funny thing is: foei [fui] is for disapproval of bad behaviour, etc. (kind-of moral) in Dutch.
The crowd usually expresses (or used to express) disapproval with loud whistling, hence 'to boo (someone)' > perf. освистать (osvistát'), literally ~"to whistle (somebody) all over".
The same in Italian! ;)
The word for "whistle" is fischio /ˈfiskjo/, while "to whistle" is fischiare.

Generally, we distinguish between the use of an indirect object (fischiare al cane: to whistle for one's dog) when we want to get someone's attention, and a direct object (fischiare un cantante/un politico: to boo a singer/politician) to indicate disapproval.

b-(o) for 'cow(s)' is a very ancient Indo-European word, as can be seen in, e.g. LAT. bovis, ENG. bovine, IRE. bó, WEL. buwch.
.
From LAT. bovis we have derived bove (literary) and bue (ox). The plural of bue is buoi /ˈbwɔi/, not to be confused with the English word "buoy", which translates in Italian as boa. No connection with booing, of course. :D
peekaboo/peek-a-boo - A game often played with babies when you hide your face for a short time and then reveal it again with the shout of, 'peek-a-boo'.
This game is called "gioco del cucù" or "bu bu sèttete" in Italian. When you reveal your face to the baby, you shout "cucù!", or alternatively, you prepare the surprise by saying "bu bu...", while still hiding, and then shout "sèttete!".
I'll add that peek-a-boo in Russian is "cuckoo" - so same as in Italy it turns out; they say it, "koo-koo" when appearing suddenly or showing where they are, to the child (or maybe to a friend jokingly); evidently a reference to cuckoo clock. Still, if the idea is to pretend to scare, then "boo" is in principle possible with small children, but it is not that idiomatic - rather a variation; some would say "ooh" with a low voice, others something else.
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1. Cuckoos? (see #12)
We can use "koekoek" too in Dutch, but then it is more friendly than "boo" (where the [u;] is much longer). It is common in rench too, in that way, I think (a friendly atmosphere, I guess), like "cou-cou", but maybe @Yendred can tell us more. Is there something like "boo"? (i don't think so, but...). Maybe something with "f..."?

2. More booing? German knows "Buh!", I believe, but no derived verb. They use 'buhen" in the intransitive meaning and switch to lexical verbs like auspfeifen (whistle out?) - or ausbuhen (onomatopaeic of course). Any German speakers in the room? ;-)

In Greek a reply from @apmoy70 at the Chinese thread in 3 below:

a. «Γιούχα» [ˈʝuxa] (fem.) or «γιουχάρισμα» [ʝuˈxaɾizma] (neut.) < Tur. yuha --> boo, hoot; the Greek interjection is «ου!» [uː]
b. «Μπου!» [bu]; don't think we have a specific name for it.

3. As for Chinese:
I found out that @SuperXW started a brief thread some time ago in Chinese, starting from a distinction. However, our main focus should be 1 (the disapproval). The surprise "boo" (?) is welcome too, as a small aside, but to some extent I think it has been mentioned by some contributors spontaneously (often"cuckoo", I think...)
"Boo" is an onomatopoeia word in English which has the following two usages (correct me if I'm wrong):
1. A cry or noise made to express displeasure or contempt: "Boo! We don't want to hear that bullshit!"
2. A cry made to scare someone by surprise.

I want to know if other languages make similar sounds for the two usages.

In Chinese (Mainland Mandarin):
1. Today, people usually make 哦(o4) or 吁(yu4) sound. The sound is called 嘘声 and the behavior is called 喝倒彩.
2. As far as I know, people cry 嘿(hei4) or 呔(dei4) for this.
It would be interesting though if SyuperXW could tell us more about the pronunciation of the sounds. (Thanks in advance, @SuperXW)
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In Greek a reply from @apmoy70 at the Chinese thread in 3 below:
a. «Γιούχα» [ˈʝuxa] (fem.) or «γιουχάρισμα» [ʝuˈxaɾizma] (neut.) < Tur. yuha --> boo, hoot; the Greek interjection is «ου!» [uː]
b. «Μπου!» [bu]; don't think we have a specific name for it.
Just wanted to add that «γιούχα» οr «γιουχάρισμα» is street-language, in a more formal register it's called «αποδοκιμασία» [apo̞ðo̞cimaˈs̠i.a] (f.) --> disapproval, jeering, booing and the verb is «αποδοκιμάζω» [apo̞ðo̞ciˈma.z̠o̞] --> to reprove, jeer, barrack < Ancient Greek feminine noun «ἀποδοκιμασίᾱ» /ɐpodokimɐˈsi.ɐː/ --> rejection after trial & verb «ἀποδοκιμάζω» /ɐpodokiˈmɐ.s͡dɔː/ --> to reject on scrutiny or trial, reject a candidate from want of qualification, a compound: Prefix & preposition «ἀπό» + verb «δοκέω-δοκῶ» /doˈke.ɔː/ (uncontracted) - /dokɔ́.ɔ̀/ (contracted).
The interjection «ου» comes from the ancient negative particle «oὐ» /u:/.
Thanks, Apmoy. But as for the negative «oὐ»: without a /b/ but the same meaning as English "boo". Correct?

Just wondering though: is the etymological link with the neg. particle so self-evident? or kind-of necesary?
I tend to only recognize some sound symbolism mean: in "boo", like
- aggressive plosive /b/
- a velar vowel, closed like (the palatal) [i:]
No?
I have read a lot about booing and saying "Boo!" recently. That got me wondering: what is the "boo" word in your language? And: what are derivations based on it, like to "to boo" --- or in Dutch "boe-geroep" (boo calling, boo shouting)?

As for Dutch (Beigian):
- mainly: awoe, boe(hoe) perhaps, bah (?? --- That is mainly rejection, not personal, like you dislike food, or an event, or ... )
- derivations:
+ boegeroep (shouting, calling)
+ boeman (scary person, maybe booing us originally)
+ kiekeboe (// peekaboo): catching attention by saying "Kiek" [kijk, warch!] + boo [used to surprise it by a mixture of fun and surprise, even fear, I think]
Not linked as far as I can see: the beuh [bØ] by cows
Polish

It's quite similar !

boo = buu!, uuu!, łuu!

peek a boo = a akuku !, in French coucou ? ;)
Thanks, Apmoy. But as for the negative «oὐ»: without a /b/ but the same meaning as English "boo". Correct?
👍

just wondering though: is the etymological link with the neg. particle so self-evident? or kind-of necesary?
I tend to only recognize some sound symbolism mean: in "boo", like
- aggressive plosive /b/
- a velar vowel, closed like (the palatal) [i:]
No?
It's quite evident actually. Besides, disapproval is kind of rejection, isn't it?
Thanks, Apmoy, but just to be sure:
- disapproval is kind-of rejection and in that sense it has a neg. connotation
- but is a negative connotation also a negation? They seem linked, obviously, but so far no other language seems to distinguish a link between booing and the negation as such (no)? Maybe I am nitpicking, or I seem to, but do not feel obliged to react! I generally hear a scary word in other languages but never a negation as such, as far as I can see...
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