Crosswords4 mins ago
Booby (Not as rude as it sounds?)
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Can someone please tell my mother and I what the origins of "booby trap" and "booby prize" are and if they have the same origins?
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.From On-line Etymology: 1599, from Sp. bobo "stupid person, slow bird," probably from L. balbus "stammering" (as jno states) (like barbarian, from an imitative root, cf. Czech blblati "to stammer," Skt. balbala-karoti "he stammers"). Booby prize is 1889, an object of little value given to the loser of a game; booby-trap is 1850, originally a schoolboy prank; the more lethal sense developed during World War I.
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