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
Matt from Grand Rapids, Michigan, was puzzled when colleagues kept saying someone had stood up at a wedding, indicating that they’d been a member of the wedding party. The expression stood up in that sense is an Americanism going back about two...
Wendy from Falls Church, Virginia, asks about a gesture corresponding to the exclamation Shame, shame! that involves scraping one index finger over the other, almost as if peeling a carrot. A German name for a similar gesture actually translates as...