Booger (word)
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- This article is about the word "booger". For information on nasal mucus, see nasal mucus.
Booger is an American slang term for a rhinolith (i.e., a piece of dried nasal mucus); the British form is bogey. 'Booger' in British English is more likely to be understood as a euphemistic pronunciation of 'bugger'.
[edit] Etymology
The etymology of the word booger baffles scholars. Since it has always been considered semi-vulgar or at least childish, it has been used in few written sources. Furthermore, in the past the word booger has been used to mean many things, and has often overlapped with the terms boogie, bogey, and bugger. The earliest usage of the word is as an alternate spelling of the vulgarism bugger. Booger was first said to be slang for "dried mucus" in the 1892 Dialect Notes; boogie was said to mean the same thing in the 1891 Dictionary of American Regional English. Its appearance in slang dictionaries indicates that it had probably been used for some time in the United States before the 1890s. Both books said that mainly "school children" used the words.
By the middle of the twentieth century, both booger and boogie were commonly being used to mean dried mucus. As late as the 1970s, both words seem to have been (relatively) acceptable. Since then, however, booger has apparently become more common in American English. This may be due to its appearance in legitimate print media: Bill Watterson claims to be the first cartoonist to use the word booger in a syndicated comic strip, while Dave Barry has pioneered its use in newspaper columns, both in the 1980s. Rapper Biz Markie recorded a humorous song "Pickin' Boogers" [1] which appeared on his album Goin Off. In the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, Dr. Johnny Fever was fired from another radio station for saying "booger" on the air (under the premise that it was an objectionable word).
[edit] Eye boogers
The hardened rheum that forms in the eyes during sleep is sometimes referred to as eye boogers, sleepy winks, crusties, sleep in one's eyes, sleep, sleepy. The Japanese term is mekuso or "eye crap". In Thai it is kee dta also meaning "eye shit"[2]. The Hawaiian word is "makapiapia".
