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BOOGEYMAN
The boogeyman is a legendary ghost-like monster that
children often believe is real. The boogeyman has no specific
appearance. It is said that the boogeyman takes the shape and
form of a child's worst fear in order to feed on them.
Oftentimes, a parent will use this fear as a way to control
their misbehaving children by telling them made-up stories
about the boogeyman hiding in the walls.
The boogeyman is sometimes said to be neither woman nor
man, and is in the form of a shadowy figure. The term
bogeyman is also used metaphorically to mean a person or
thing of which someone has an irrational fear.
The commonest childhood fears that the boogeyman's
associated with is that of someone (usually a monster) hiding
in one's room (such as behind the door or under the bed). The
boogeyman is said to lurk like this and then attack the
sleepers (though usually only in order to scare them and is
harmless otherwise).
The etymology of the word "bogeyman" is uncertain, as is
when it first appeared in the English language. Some sources
date it to the 16th century, while others to around 1836, as a
term for the Devil. |
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The roots of the word might ultimately derive from the
Middle English bugge, meaning a "frightening spectre".
Similar derivations include boggart, bogy,
bugbear, the Welsh bwg and the German bögge,
all referring to goblins or frightening creatures. "Bogey" may
also come from the Scottish bogle, meaning "ghost",
dating to around 1505 and popularised in English literature
around the 19th century through the works of Scottish poets
like Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott.
Some derivatives of boogeyman include:
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BRITISH BOGEYMAN:
A malevolent creature from British folklore. Some of them
are merely troublesome and rather harmless, but others are
truly evil. |
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BRITISH BOGGART:
Mischievous spirits responsible for mishaps and
poltergeist activity within the home and in the
countryside.
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Variants: boggart, bögge,
bogeyman, bogle, bogy, boogeyman, boogyman, bogyman, bugbear,
bugge, bugis, bugisman, bwg.
hey cheap!
what sorrows do you reap
from sleeping
deeps
I keep
a candle by my bed
so I can burn your silly head
be fleet!
my nimble dreaming feet
lest sleep
forever more repeat
Thief of Souls (A
child's rhyme about the boogeyman/sandman)
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