Seven-year-old Everett from Tallahassee, Florida, wants to know why we refer to a scrape or other minor injury as a boo-boo. Such reduplication of words and syllables is common in baby talk used to soothe a child. Also, boo-boo sounds a little like the word we use to imitate the sound of crying, boo-hoo. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Why Does a Scrape Get Called a “Boo-Boo”?”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, I’m Everett.
Hi, Everett. Where are you calling from?
Tallahassee.
Tallahassee, Florida. Well, welcome, Everett. We’re so glad to have you.
What would you like to talk with us about?
I need to ask you, what does the word boo-boo mean?
What does the word boo-boo mean? What a great question.
Mm-What made you ask about boo-boo, Everett?
One day I just thought of, I wanted to know what does the word boo-boo mean because I just didn’t know yet.
Yeah.
Did you fall down and scrape a knee or something?
Just like a few days ago I did that.
Yeah.
And how is it now?
How’s your, is it a scrape or a cut or what is it?
It used to be much worse, but now it’s getting a little bit better.
Oh, okay.
Well, I’m glad to hear that. So, yeah, the word boo-boo is a word that means an injury or like a cut or a scrape.
You know, usually boo-boo is a word that, you know, parents will use with their kids.
You don’t usually hear like the president of the United States say, I have a boo-boo on my finger, do you?
No.
Right. So it’s like usually a mom or dad or another adult who wants you to know that they see that you’re hurting and feel sorry for you and try to make you feel better, right?
I see.
Yeah. So we use the word boo-boo as it’s probably a form of baby talk.
Like think about the words night-night or choo-choo.
Boo-boo is another one of those words.
It’s a sweet word that you would use with a child to make that child feel better if they have a hurt.
I never knew that.
Well, you do now, Everett.
And it sounds a little bit like the sound that you make if you’re a little bit hurt and you cry.
A little bit like boo-hoo.
We kind of make a boo-blubbering sound.
So maybe when people first came up with the word boo-boo, they were thinking of boo-hoo and that little noise we make when we first kind of go and cry a little bit when we’re hurt.
Oh.
Yeah, so boo-boo is a word that people would use to comfort you and make you feel better.
Did it make you feel better, Everett, when they said that?
Kind of.
Kind of.
He’s a tough guy, Martha.
We sure hope your boo-boo gets better really fast.
Okay.
And thank you for talking with us today.
We really appreciate it.
How old are you, by the way, Everett?
I am seven.
Oh, seven.
Well, I got to tell you, at seven years old, that boo-boo is going to heal super fast.
Take care of yourself and call us again sometime, okay?
Okay.
Bye-bye.
Be well.
Bye.
Bye.
Martha, I appreciate the calls from kids.
It takes a lot of guts to get on the phone and call a stranger and satisfy that curiosity to get that answer.
I can’t imagine doing that when I was seven.
Oh, no, me neither.
I would barely talk to some of my relatives who are around all the time, much less a stranger with no face on a phone.
Yeah, but you can tell Everett is a bright, curious young man, and we love to hear from kids like that.
Active, too, running around, scraping his legs.
Well, we welcome calls from everyone from ages 70 to 770, 877-929-9673, or talk to us on Twitter @wayword.
