boojack n. a newspaper boy who attracts customers with shouts. Editorial Note: The most similar word I could find was bootjack, ‘a contrivance for pulling off boots,’ but the similarity is superficial. Another similar word, and more interesting in its possible connection, is the exclamation of enthusiasm booya. An unlikely comparison might be made to hijack, connoting, perhaps, the stopping of passersby with exclamations and shouts. A relationship might also be speculated with jack one’s jaws ‘to talk volubly’ (HDAS 1960) ; to jack ‘to steal; hijack’ (HDAS 1930) and ‘to hold up’ (HDAS 1982). (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Understanding the varieties of conversational styles can mean the difference between feeling you’re understood and being insulted. “High-involvement” speakers interrupt or talk along with someone else to signal their enthusiasm...
National Book Award winner Barry Lopez had wise advice for young writers. First, read widely and follow your curiosity. Second, travel or learn a foreign language. And third, find out what you truly believe, because if you’re not writing from...