boo(interj.)
15世纪早期, boh,“一个辅音和元音的组合,特别适合发出响亮而惊人的声音”[OED,它将其与拉丁语 boare,希腊语 boaein “大声喊叫,咆哮,喊叫”进行了比较]; 作为不赞成的表达方式,1884年(名词); 因此,动词的意思是“向(某人)投以嘘声”(1885年)。
在19世纪晚期,嘘声在伦敦剧院观众和英国政治活动中很常见; 在意大利,帕尔马的歌剧观众以嘘声而闻名。但这种习俗在1910年前在美国似乎鲜为人知。
say boo “张开嘴巴,说话”的原意是 say boo to a goose。
To be able to say Bo! to a goose is to be not quite destitute of courage, to have an inkling of spirit, and was probably in the first instance used of children. A little boy who comes across some geese suddenly will find himself hissed at immediately, and a great demonstration of defiance made by them, but if he can pluck up heart to cry 'bo!' loudly and advance upon them, they will retire defeated. The word 'bo' is clearly selected for the sake of the explosiveness of its first letter and the openness and loudness of its vowel. [Walter W. Skeat, "Cry Bo to a Goose," in Notes and Queries, 4th series, vi, Sept. 10, 1870]
能对一只鹅说“Bo!”意味着并不完全缺乏勇气,对精神有所了解,最初可能是用于儿童。一个小男孩突然遇到一些鹅,它们会立即嘶嘶地嘘他,并对他进行强烈的挑衅示威,但如果他能鼓起勇气大声喊“bo!”并向它们前进,它们将被打败。显然选择“bo”这个词是因为它的第一个字母的爆炸性和元音的开放和响亮。[沃尔特·W·斯基特(Walter W. Skeat),《对一只鹅喊“Bo”》(Cry Bo to a Goose),《注释和查询》(Notes and Queries),第四系列,第六卷,1870年9月10日]
该词起源时间:15世纪初