bug-a-boo

短语

发音

US /ˈbʌɡəbuː/

词形变化

bug-a-boos 复数 bug-a-boos

别名

bugaboo

释义与例句

n.
  1. 1.

    A mythical, nocturnal creature; a hobgoblin.

  2. 2.

    Any imagined fear or threat, or a fear presumed larger than it really is.

词汇关系

名词

同义词 4

booger bogeyman boogeyman bugbear

上位词 5

worry monster concern headache vexation

词源

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.

来源：wiktionary