boo word n. an expression or term that represents a topic that is unpopular or unwelcome. Editorial Note: The antonym is hurrah word (also spelled hooray word). In recent years, both boo word and hurrah word are more common in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand than they are in North America. Etymological Note: Though, as in the 1900 citation, the form bugaboo word is occasionally used, the origins of boo word are probably not in a clipping of bugaboo but by reference to the effect of the word on observers, either because it causes them to boo and jeer in response, or because they are startled or scared as if someone has shouted “boo!” (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...
One of the most powerful words you’ll ever hear — and one of the most poignant — isn’t in dictionaries yet. But it probably will be one day. The word is endling, and it means “the last surviving member of a species.” The...