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Bug-a-boo

//ˈbʌɡəbuː// noun

Definitions

Noun

1
A mythical, nocturnal creature; a hobgoblin.
"The German ubu, as well as the French bibou, is also used for bug-a-boo, hobgoblin, or any other fantastical, terrific nocturnal object."
2
Any imagined fear or threat, or a fear presumed larger than it really is.
"...a fear had come upon them, and they had a kind of bug-a-boo terror about roving gangsters."

Etymology

An earlier form was seen in buggybow, probably an alteration of bugbear (see bug), but connected by Chapman ("Dictionary of American Slang") with Bugibu, demon in the Old French poem Aliscans from 1141, which is perhaps of Celtic origin as a pagan god (compare Cornish buccaboo (“devil”), from bucca (“bogle, goblin”)). Alternatively, bug + a + boo. For a similar semantic development from a heathen god to demon to monster, compare etymology of French lutin.

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