Booing

"Boo" redirects here. For other uses, see Boo (disambiguation).

Booing is an act of showing displeasure for someone or something, generally an entertainer, by loudly yelling boo (and holding the "oo" sound) or making other noises of disparagement, such as hissing. People may make hand signs at the entertainer, such as the thumbs down sign. If spectators particularly dislike the performance they may also accompany booing by throwing objects (traditionally rotten fruit) onstage, though the objects may not be meant to physically hurt the performer.

The word "Boo" is also used as to frighten or scare (also see Fear or Scare) someone as in this example: The ghost said "Boo", frightening the unsuspecting little girl as she walked into a room in the haunted house. Over the past few years since the 1990’s, the word "Bo" has been adopted in pop culture and used in Rhythm & Blues and Hip Hop songs to show affection for another but often spelled incorrectly as "Boo". Typically this occurred after some well known musical artists began using the word "Boo" in lieu of "Bo" as part of their unique writing styles as in the spelling of the word "tha" instead of "the" or the word "boyz" instead of "boys" in their lyrics. Since the 1990's, the word "Boo" has become widely used in the English language, yet its primary meaning is to scare or show discontent when used.

A smaller, but emerging meaning of Booing involves a suburban activity engaged in around Halloween. To perform a "Booing", children draw a ghost picture with the word "Boo" written on it. They then place the picture along with some Halloween candy in a basket of sorts, place them on someone's doorstep during the night, and "knock and run". That house then tapes the picture to the front door to let others know they have already been "Booed", as you are not supposed to Boo a house that has already been Booed. It is unknown how widespread Booing is, but appears to be commonplace in the suburbs of Atlanta GA, especially the North suburbs.

Examples

• In sports, booing by fans is quite common. They may boo players on the team they support after poor play, particularly-hated players on the opposing team (see Robbie Savage, or any opposing player when there is an intense rivalry between the teams. Unsportsmanlike behavior is also booed, such as intentionally hitting home team batters in baseball or diving in association football or basketball (where it is a technical foul). Booing of referees or umpires after an unpopular ruling is also common.
• In professional wrestling, audience tends to boo heel wrestlers and their in-ring tactics. However, some wrestlers who have become over with the crowd are likely to be cheered. Also some face wrestlers get booed.
• A villainous character may also be booed to show a dislike of said character, rather than the acting skills of the thespian portraying him or her. Melodrama performances such as the traditional British Pantomime may encourage it, along with cheering at the hero/heroine.
• On the game show The Price Is Right, booing is quite common from the audience when a player fails to make one full revolution of the Showcase Showdown wheel during a spin.
• On reality shows in both America and the United Kingdom where Simon Cowell appears as a judge, he is normally booed by the audiences for giving negative remarks to contestants whom the audience and other judges praise.
• In the UK version of Big Brother, housemates are often booed on their exit or entrance into the house, host Davina McCall often sugar coats it by saying "it's all panto".
• In the process of booing, members of the audience sometimes will throw fruit, vegetables or garbage for particularly bad or contemptible performances. In contrast, they might throw flowers for good performances.
• The throwing of cushions from 'The Top Balcony' was only curtailed by the withdrawal of the cushions.
• When the Brazilian pop band Restart won the award for Artist of the Year, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Brazil, they were received by boos from the audience. They replied saying "criticism makes our band grow even more".

See also

• Audience participation
• Heckling

External links

• Where Do Hecklers Come From? The origins of booing on Slate.
• Web site explaining the "We've Been Booed" Game played at Halloween.