Bugbear

[mazzywoo]

Hi all. Does anyone know the origins of the word Bugbear? Thank you in anticipation!

[shaneystar2]

The Welsh root word bwg gave rise to the long-obsolete word bug for a hobgoblin, which now survives only in bugbear, a dreadful bearlike apparition that ate naughty children . Another closely related word is bugaboo.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/bump.ht m

Nowadays we use it mean something annoying or an object of dread or apprehension.

[mazzywoo]

thanks for that Shaneystar2-interesting origins eh?